


Son of a Thief

by Nixter97



Series: The Thief Chronicles [1]
Category: Sly Cooper (Video Games)
Genre: Abuse, Action/Adventure, Breaking Up & Making Up, Character Death, Drama, Drama & Romance, Explicit Language, Falling In Love, Family, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Sexual Content, Mild Language, Post-Sly Cooper: Honor Among Thieves, Protection, Romance, Sexual Content, Sly 4 never happened in this story's universe, Suspense, Team as Family, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:35:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 31,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22075567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nixter97/pseuds/Nixter97
Summary: After a year of faking amnesia, Sly gets word that someone is set out on hurting him and the ones he loves. He leaves his new life behind to go stop this mysterious threat, unaware of what's awaiting him and Carmelita. After eleven years, Sly finally meets his son, who becomes a target. Will Sly be able to keep his son safe and make amends with Carmelita?
Relationships: Bentley/Penelope (Sly Cooper), Original Character(s)/Original Character(s), Sly Cooper/Carmelita Fox
Series: The Thief Chronicles [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1589038
Comments: 13
Kudos: 20





	1. How It All Began

It was a crisp morning in Paris, France. The colored leaves hovered in the air as they danced alongside the streets. Pedestrians greeted each other as they carried on about their days, heading to work or dropping their children off at school. Some shivered as the breeze flew past them while others paid no mind. The morning traffic was going along smoothly, which was unnatural for a Monday morning. While it was usually a chaotic mess, today seemed to be a rare exception. Perfect for an everyday citizen, but even better for an everyday criminal. Sitting inside a black van were a gang of mask-wearing thugs loading up their weapons as the unmasked driver - a brown wolf - stalked the bank's entryway. His blue eyes narrowed as he continued to observe, taking in the sight of several citizens entering the immense building. The vibrations from his phone snapped the driver out of his concentration as he fished in his pockets and brought the device out in the open, reading the text.

_Now._

The van soon pulled up in front of the bank and the masked thugs scattered out, alerting many civilians before they all screamed and ran for it. The thugs - especially their leader - paid no mind. Said leader arrived shortly in another black van, wearing all black with a matching trench coat and gloves. He was a male red fox with scruffy features and dark brown eyes. He entered the building just as his men started firing their weapons and shouting commands. The vulpine walked towards the center of the bank, where two of his goons brought a panicking middle-aged female golden doodle in a pinstripe suit. She trembled as she made eye contact with the vulpine, who knelt down to her level after being shoved onto the floor.'

The vulpine offered the golden doodle a solicitous smile. "Good morning," he greeted. "I'd like to make a withdraw."

"I-I-I'm a-afraid I-I can't allow...s-someone l-l-like-"

"Like who?" the vulpine asked with a furrowed brow. "Like me? Like us?" he motioned around the room as he stood. "Ma'dam, I am flabbergasted! We're just citizens looking to withdraw some money - the very thing that humanity needs to survive! We're not...entirely different, you and I. We both wake up, get dressed, eat our breakfast, go to work, have lunch, go home to make dinner, take one good shit before going off to bed! So tell me..." he knelt back down and stared intensely at the woman. "What kind of person am I?"

The golden doodle gulped. "A...A criminal!"

She tried to sound brave and confident in her response, and it was noticeable to everyone in the room. The vulpine's lips twitched until a smile was formed. He soon let out a laugh, which nervously got the golden doodle to start chuckling herself. However, her timid joy was soon cut short as the vulpine took a gun out of his coat's inner-pocket and aimed the barrel at her.

"'A criminal'," he repeated dryly. "'A criminal', she says!" he announced, earning some laughter from his men. His attention fell back onto the frightened woman. "My dear, I can be so much more than that, I assure you. Now, unless you want to have your face unrecognizable by the time we're through, I suggest you be a good bitch and provide me and my boys some excellent customer service."

The female golden doodle gulped in response, her entire body shaking like a leaf. Before she could say anything else, the sound of police sirens developed outside. A soft groan escaped the vulpine's mouth, as if he'd forgotten about the law-abiding citizens. His head turned to his left and onto the brown wolf that was driving the other van moments ago.

"David, be a sport and keep the men in blue busy, will ya? Me 'an the boys here are gonna a tour with the manager."

The wolf nodded in response. "'Aight Kevin," he turned and approached group of thugs. "Ya heard the fox! Move it!"

Kevin grinned before he had his two goons forcibly lift the bank's manager up. He motioned to his left with his armed hand, having the golden doodle lead them towards a door on the other side of the counter. Little did the criminals know, this heist was going to soon take a rather interesting turn.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Just outside the bank, police cars swarmed the building's exterior. Citizens were pushed back for their safety before security road blockers were placed in front of them. In the midst of all this, Inspector James Barkley of INTERPOL stood while shouting orders to his troops. As if he thought things were going to get tougher, another cop car appeared, where two figures stepped outside. A sigh of relief had escaped the badger's mouth as his eyes soon fell upon the approaching duo: Inspector Carmelita Fox and her newly-hired partner, Constable Sly Cooper. It was hard to believe, but one year ago, it was confirmed by Carmelita that the once thieving raccoon had been self-diagnosed with amnesia. Carmelita had explained to Barkley about the situation upon returning from Kaine Island, and while the badger was reluctant at first, he agreed to give the raccoon a chance.

Carmelita could hardly believe it herself, but Sly Cooper was actually a great person to be around. While it was fun chasing him during his thieving days, working with him on the same side of the law was more enjoyable. They were able to have normal conversations, work together as a functioning team, and above all, grew closer. It was more accepting in Carmelita's eyes to become more romantically involved with an officer of the law versus a world-renowned thief. In the span of one year, the two went from partners in law to friends, and from friends to eventually something more. It was no secret in INTERPOL Headquarters that the duo were smitten with each other, which made it less stressful for them to actually be romantic at work. The thought of running around in secret was difficult.

"Inspector," Barkley nodded at the vixen. His head turned to Sly, his brow raised. "Constable."

"A pleasure as always, Sir." replied the raccoon in a facetious tone.

Carmelita quickly diverted the badger's vexed attention away from her partner by getting straight to business. "What's the situation, Sir?"

Barkley brought his attention to the vixen with a huff. "A group of thugs in two large black vans pulled up here about half and hour ago. We have multiple hostage situations inside. They're armed and dangerous."

"Who are they? Part of a gang?"

"Possibly," Barkley shrugged before lighting his cigar. "Got a couple eye witnesses - those who ran upon seeing those bastards entering the building. All of 'em were masked while armed, except for two: a red fox and a brown wolf, both male. Another eye witness suspects they're part of a terrorist organisation, but it's hard to say. Truth be told, I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case."

Carmelita nodded. "Alright, Constable Cooper and I will try to sneak in to see what we can do."

"I've already sent out a few cops in there," Barkley informed. "Haven't heard from 'em yet. Be careful..."

With a nod, Carmelita tugged onto Sly's sleeve before getting closer to the building, searching for any discreet entryways.

"Why do you do that?" inquired Carmelita.

"Hm?" Sly replied, cautiously moving alongside his partner. "Whatever do you mean?"

Carmelita rolled her eyes. "You really shouldn't edge Barkley on like that, Sly. You could get into some serious trouble one of these days."

"Just trying to make working in INTERPOL less intolerating, Carm. Pardon me for bringing some charm."

"But _must_ be a smartass to our boss?"

Ignoring the lecturing vixen, Sly continued his search. Making their way down an alleyway, the raccoon observed the other building next to them. It was roughly the same size of the bank, and the upper windows to the bank's main lobby were right across the roof of the neighboring building. Sly grinned and quickly climbed up by using the drain pipe. Carmelita watched as her partner climbed up, not completely understanding what he was planning to do.

"Sly!" she yelled up in a hushed voice. "What are you doing?"

"Breaking and Entering!"

Before Carmelita knew it, Sly was running across the other building's rooftop and jumped across the alleyway's gap. Carmelita gasped and covered her mouth, frozen in her spot as her eyes widen in shock as her raccoon partner crashed through the window. Seconds later, a weasel goon was thrown out of the window with a scream, the pile of trash in front of the vixen breaking his fall. This snapped Carmelita out of her shock and she groaned with displeasure.

"Goddamnit, Ringtail..." she sighed before making her way over to the fallen goon.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Sly brushed his shoulders and cracked his neck once the goon was dealt with. A grin appeared on his face when he heard footsteps approaching the room he was in. Sly quickly hid underneath the office desk, his pistol loaded. Two more goons entered the room - one weasel, and one badger - and started searching for the source of the noise.

"Hey, where's Vinny?" one of them asked.

"Somethin' ain't right..." the other observed.

Sly grabbed onto the badger's foot once he stepped closer to the desk and shot him in the leg, making the mammal scream in pain and fell down. The weasel jumped in surprise, barley having enough time to react before Sly jump up from under the desk and shot the weasel in the shoulder, causing him to scream and drop to his knees. Sly ran across the room and punched the weasel in the face, knocking him out cold. The raccoon's ears twitched once he heard a gun click from behind. Sly quickly moved as soon as the badger's gun fired off, avoiding the bullets while sneaking around the mammal. Once Sly got close enough, he knocked the firearm out of the badger's hands and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, pulling him close to his face.

"Who are you guys?!"

"I ain't tellin' ya shit, Copper!"

Sly growled and punched him across the face, blood spewing from the criminal's mouth. "Talk!"

"We're just a group of crooks, I swear!" the badger exclaimed. "Just a simple bank job, honest!"

"Ya got a boss?" Sly demanded.

The badger nodded eagerly. "Yes, yes! Kevin Trox and David Wolfherd!"

"And where are they?!"

"Trox is being lead to the main vault by the manager, and Wolfherd is downstairs at the main lobby! That's all I know, I swear!"

"Thank you," Sly replied before knocking the badger out. He got up and bought his mic up to his face. "Carm, I've got some updates."

 _"Oh great,"_ Carmelita sighed. _"What are they?"_

"This gang has two bosses - a Kevin Trox and David Wolfherd. Trox is being taken to the main vault by the bank manager, and Wolfherd is at the main lobby."

Carmelita hummed on her end. _"Yeah, we've already got that information out of that one weasel you threw out the window."_

Sly grinned. "Yeah, but I bet I got that piece of info before you did."

 _"I hardly believe that,"_ Sly could practically hear the vixen rolling her eyes. _"Get back out here, Sly. We need a game plan."_

"What, but the party's just getting started."

" _Sly? What are you-"_

"Just keep an eye on the lobby doors, gorgeous."

_"Just hold on one goddamn min-"_

Sly shut off the mic before making his way out of the office, going through the halls until he stumbled across the entrance to the main lobby. Sly cautiously opened the door and silently took out the guard in front of him. The raccoon then observed his surroundings, seeing that the whole lobby was under surveillance by this gang of criminals. Sly then climbed up to perch himself onto a statue mounted on the wall above the door, getting a better view of the place. He eventually caught sight of a large, muscular brown wolf in a black tank top and camouflage black pants. He also wore black finger-less gloves and matching boots. If Sly had to guess, then this had to be David Wolfherd. His blue eyes narrowed as he watched the bank's main doors, cracking his neck as if he were preparing for a fight.

"What is taking them?" David growled. "Surely, the vault isn't that far!"

"Bored, are we?" Sly asked out loud before leaping off the statue and landing on the main floor, roughly twelve feet away from the wolf. "Then how about some entertainment?"

At first, all guns were aimed at the raccoon, but were soon dismissed by David. The wolf eyed the raccoon in front of him and let out a chuckle.

"What are ya, some schmuck trying to play hero?"

"Nope," Sly answered. "I just wanted to get a closer look at ya, big guy. Wanting to know if you're as tough as you look."

David eyed the raccoon, trying to see if he was joking. "You're either foolishly brave or foolishly stupid. I've crushed many men under my feet, and there hasn't been a fight I could not win!"

"Then how about a demonstration?" Sly challenged, getting into a sighting stance.

"With pleasure..."

David charged towards Sly, followed by a series of punches. Sly dodged the wolf's attacks with ease, eventually finding an opening by sucker-punching his opponent across the face. David growled and tried to grab Sly, but to no avail. The raccoon leaped above him and landed on his back, wrapping his arms around David's neck in a choke hold. David grew more irritated by the minute; he aimed to slam Sly against the wall behind them. The raccoon got the hint and quickly released David, leaping off him a moment before the large wolf collided with the wall. David hissed in pain, his eyes clenched as his head began to swell. The guards watched as their leader was then grabbed onto by Sly and tossed towards the main doors. Not too long after his victory, the other police officers barged into the building. Kevin and David's goons opened fire upon the entry, creating havoc.

"SLY COOPER!"

Sly turned to see a very livid Carmelita Fox approaching. A cheeky grin appeared on the raccoon's face as he took cover; Carmelita followed suit.

"Hey Carm, welcome to the party!"

"Don't start with me!" the vixen hissed before firing at a badger goon. "Barkley's gonna have your ass for this one!"

"Meh, I'll take my chances." Sly shrugged before continuing to fire.

Carmelita frowned. "You really need to start listening to him more, Sly."

"Yeah, yeah, I know!" Sly shouted over the gunfire with a roll of his eyes. "Anyway, I'm heading to the main vault to take down Trox."

Carmelita groaned. "Sly, please, just wait for- Sly?" Carmelita found that she was too late the second she turned her head. Her eyes caught sight of her raccoon partner making a run for the main vault. "Why the hell do I even bother?"

**XXXXXXXXXX**

One of the weasel goons shut off his phone before making his way towards his boss. "The van's making its way around the building," he informed. "Should be here any moment."

"Good," Kevin nodded in response. "Get the bags ready and prepare for a fast getaway. I don't want to lose anymore men on this job."

The entryway busted open to reveal an armed raccoon. Sly glared at the vulpine in front of him, ignoring the multiple guns pointed at his direction. Kevin looked calm despite having a gun aimed at him. He gave Sly an unimpressed look before sighing with annoyance.

"Ah, so the men in blue have arrived. Tell me, are you the reason for all that gunfire out there?"

"Ya bet I am," Sly replied, taking cautious steps further ahead. "And I'm also the one placing you under arrest. Lower your weapons and raise your arms above your heads. Backup will be here shortly."

"Funny..." Kevin reached for the bank manager and held her close to him at gunpoint. "I was just about to say something similar."

To Sly's surprise, the wall to his right erupted, where a large black van sat on the other side. Sly fell onto the ground in result of the blast, his hand rubbing his head as he tried to steady himself. Kevin stared at Sly as he shot the bank manager down, making his eyes widen with anger. The vulpine still kept his calm composure as he casually walked towards the van, firing shots at Sly before the van took off.

Sly, who had taken cover, growled with anger and made a run for outside, barley catching the van as it made a sharp left turn. Sly frantically looked around until he caught sight of a pedestrian parking their motorcycle. Getting an idea, Sly made a dash for the bike and hoped on, flashing his badge before taking off.

"Hey!" the owner of the bike exclaimed.

Sly chased the van to the best of his ability. It was not long before another car appeared - this one belonging to Carmelita. She looked over at Sly while trying to keep up with the chase.

"What happened?!"

"Trox surprised me!" Sly shouted back.

"We're full of surprises, too!" Carmelita focused on the road, her grip on the steering wheel tightening. "If you have any crazy ideas, now's the perfect time to pull one off!"

"I thought you'd never ask!" Sly grinned before speeding off after the van.

Sly reached into his jacket's inner pocket and brought out his firearm. His eyes widen when one of Kevin's goons peaked from the passenger window and fired at him. Sly dodged the bullets to the best of his ability and fired back, careful not to get hit. It wasn't long before Sly got an idea. As soon as they were approaching the Louver, Sly aimed and fired at one of the van's back tires, causing the vehicle to swerve and eventually crash in the museum's courtyard. The raccoon quickly hopped off the bike and ran towards the van, his gun still aimed. Carmelita arrived just in time before the van burst opened and guns started blazing. The duo ducked for cover as other officers arrived.

Sly soon felt a fist collide with his face that sent him down. Kevin Trox stood over him, his gun aimed right at his face. Sly quickly reached and fired his own gun, shooting the firearm right out of the vulpine's hand. Kevin slightly flinched and looked as Sly stood up to face him.

"It's over, Trox. You're under arrest."

Kevin sighed and raised his left hand. "Ya got me, copper..."

With his right hand, Kevin quickly grabbed hold of his knife and leaped towards Sly, who barley had time to react. The raccoon struggled at first, but he eventually got the best of Kevin. The vulpine screamed in severe pain once his own knife sliced across his right eye; he covered his face before Sly knocked him out with a hard punch.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"Ya think this is over, Cooper?! When I get out, you're a dead man!"

Sly watched as Kevin was taken away on a medical stretcher with a duo of officers escorting the paramedics. His sliced eyed was wrapped in gauze, which was heavily stained with blood. The rest of the goons where taken away as well, cuffed and seated in various police cars. All seemed peaceful, until Carmelita approached the raccoon with an unreadable expression.

"Well, this was fun." Sly said joked.

"Yeah, well, it's about to get even better," Carmelita sighed, clearly irritated. "Barkley wants to see us as soon as we return to HQ."

Sly frowned at this. Why was he not surprised?

* * *

The only sound that could be heard in Chief Barkley's office was the clock, with each tick making both the vixen and raccoon more uncomfortable. Carmelita sighed, then crossed her legs and folded her arms across her chest. She peered over at Sly with her eyes, who was bouncing his left leg while twiddling his thumbs. He avoided eye contact by staring down at his hands, acting like a child about to be scowled by their parent. Which, ironically, seemed that way most of the time while working alongside Carmelita.

Barkley sat behind his desk, his arms folded across his chest, his whole body stiff. His eyes were narrowed, and his brows furrowed. A cigar was in the badger's mouth, puffing smoke with each heavy breath he took. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Barkley was pissed.

Extremely pissed.

Taking a daring chance, Sly's eyes wondered up to face the livid badger in front of them, whose expression soured even more.

"Sssooo..." Sly cleared his throat. "What's up, Chief?"

"'What's up'? 'What's up'?! I'll tell ya what's up, Cooper - MY PATIENTS! That's 'what's up'!" he slammed his fists onto the desk, nearing cracking the wooden surface. Surprisingly, neither Sly or Carmelita flinched. This was just a typical Barkley outburst. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!"

"I was doing my job," Sly responded. "I broke into the bank and-"

"ALONE!" Barkley interrupted. "You went into that bank ALONE! No backup, no communication-"

"Well, technically, I did communicate with Carm..."

Carmelita's mouth dropped as she snapped her head over towards him. "You cut me off! I had absolutely no way of talking to you!"

"Exactly, I needed to be sneaky if I wanted to-"

"WHICH FAILED!" Barkley roared. "And don't get me started on that car chase, Cooper! You have any idea how much damage was caused?!"

"I did my job!" Sly barked back. "I caught Trox, didn't I?!"

"Innocent lives were put in danger!" Barkley exclaimed. "You're a loose cannon who doesn't always think things through! A part of me finds it hard to believe that you're one hundred percent redeemed! If I ought-"

"Chief!" Carmelita exclaimed, silencing the room.

Barkley sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Just go, Cooper. Outta my sight..."

Without another word, Sly looked over at Carmelita before exiting the room. With a heavy sigh, the vixen looked back over at the badger in front of her, who was slowly starting to simmer down.

"You got to stop bringing that up, Chief..."

"It's the true, isn't it?" Barkley asked. "When you brought him back last year, claiming he had lost all his memories, I was skeptical. Hell, I still am."

"But he's loyal, is he not?" Carmelita inquired. "His methods may not always be...the best, but he does get the job done. You have to at least admit to that."

Barkley nodded. "I do," he then leaned forward and folded his hands together on the desk. "Carmelita, I want nothing more than to believe you. However...if I see, or even hear of him doing anything shady, then I'm firing him via arrest. That also applies to pulling off anymore crazy and stupid stunts."

"I'll talk to him," Carmelita assured before getting up to leave.

"Carmelita," the vixen stopped just as she was about to open the door and turned around to face her boss. "You have to at least admit...that there's still a bit of thief in him. The things he use- can do still. You have to at least see it too."

Carmelita pursed her lips and said nothing more before exiting the office, shutting the door behind her.

* * *

Sly stood outside on the apartment's balcony, his arms resting upon the railing. He took in the sights of the city, doing his best to ignore the chilly breeze as the sun was setting. A sigh escaped his mouth as he closed his eyes. He was hiding something from Carmelita; something that could destroy what they have forever.

He didn't have amnesia.

Honestly, Sly didn't know what he was thinking. When Carmelita was being threatened by Doctor M, he took charge and risked his life to protect her. Sly told himself that he would tell the vixen how he truly felt, but that never came. Instead, he faked memory loss in order to get closer to her. What a horrible move, on his part. It may have seemed to be a good idea at the time, but now...Sly regretted it. There was no way he could do this any longer; he wasn't a cop, and he never will be. This wasn't him. Still, he was in this too deep. Sly felt irritated at himself for allowing this charade to continue.

The sound of the sliding door opening made the raccoon's ears twitch.

"Sly?" came that angelic voice that Sly loved to hear. He turned his head to see Carmelita approaching with two mugs in her hands. "I made coco. Would you care for some?"

"Thanks," Sly said before taking one of the mugs.

Carmelita stood next to him, eyeing the city with him as the lights began to shine throughout the darkness. A small smile appeared on her face before taking a sip out of her own mug.

"I love the lights," Sly heard her say. "Especially the ones on the Eiffel Tower - so colorful and vibrant."

Sly hummed in response while taking another sip from his mug. "Yeah, I agree..."

Carmelita frowned at the tone of his voice and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Sly...I know you were trying to do your job. But we're supposed to be a team; you can't just do whatever you want in situations like that."

"I know, I know..." Sly grumbled. "Don't be a hero."

"Only Barkley would say something like that," Carmelita retorted while shaking her head. "What I'm trying to say is...try to be more careful. I love you, and I...I couldn't bare losing you. You kept ignoring me and Barkley today and went out to face these guys on your own. That was not smart."

Sly let out a small chuckle. "Yeah, I suppose I can get a little carried away."

"A little?" Carmelita teased.

Sly felt himself go warm at the sight of Carmelita's smirk. He loved this about her; despite the rough side, the vixen can be very alluring and always bring a smile to his face. Even when things seemed dark, they always made each other feel better.

"Thank you Carm," Sly smiled. "Really, I mean it."

"You're welcome, mi amor."

The two shared a passionate kiss before cuddling in each other's embrace. They stood there on the balcony for a while, enjoying the beautiful view of the city before returning inside. From there, the two lovers shared a night of passion before allowing sleep to take over them.

As Carmelita slept, Sly laid wide awake. He looked over at the vixen and frowned. Sly realized that he needed to tell her the truth, one way or another.

* * *

**~ Two Months Later ~**

"Stop messing with it!" Carmelita scowled.

"I can't help it!" Sly whined, tugging at his bow-tie. "It's so uncomfortable! I think you tied it too tight."

Carmelita rolled her eyes. She was wearing a navy blue dress with her hair let down. Sly was wearing a black tuxedo with a bow-tie that matched the vixen's dress.

"Here, lemme fix it," she sighed while reaching up. "There, feel better?"

Sly hummed with approval. "Yeah, much better! And speaking of, are you feeling okay? You haven't been feeling ill again, have you?"

Carmelita shook her with with a small smile. "No, mi amor. Though I should get my test results back any time now."

"I hope it was nothing serious..." Sly frowned, his voice sounding worried.

For a while now, Carmelita had on-again and off-again stomach bugs. After two days of Sly's pleading, Carmelita eventually gave in and went to the doctor's earlier in the day to get a check-up and some blood work done. Sly was happy that she went and was feeling better right now, but how long would that last? Just as Sly was about to say something else, one of their female coworkers approached them, or more specifically, Carmelita. The vixen smiled and went off with her to join a small group near the dance floor. She turned turned back over to Sly and gave him an apologetic smile before bringing her attention back to her coworker who was dragging her away.

Sly smiled at his vixen lover before bringing his attention to the party. INTERPOL was throwing a gala - a yearly event at the end of the year to honor those in the force with awards and to simply have to good time. Carmelita was currently partaking in a group conversation with some of their fellow officers, laughing every now and then. Sly preferred to stay away from the crowd; he had always isolated himself since he joined the force. The sound of champagne glasses clicking together, mixed with chatter filled the ball room. It was a miracle that the music being provided was able to be heard, in Sly's opinion.

The raccoon brought his attention to the dance floor, his eyes now fixed on the people dancing. In a strange way, it was almost calming. The raccoon was so engrossed to the relaxing music and scenery that he almost didn't hear the sound of high heels approaching him.

"Constable Cooper," came a feminine voice. "how charming it is to finally meet you."

Sly's attention snapped as soon as he heard the foreign voice and turned his head. A female raccoon in an indigo dress, silver earnings and medium-length black hair approached to his right. Her hips swayed as she walked, eventually coming to a complete stop. She gave him a coy smile bowed her head, her blue eyes staring straight at him.

"Pardon me, but who are you?" Sly inquired.

"I am Juliette Berger," the female replied kindly, her French accent slightly thick. "I've been watching you this evening, and it looks to me like you could use some company. Care if I join?"

Sly gave her a friendly smile. "That's kind of you, but I'm afraid I'm already with someone."

"Nothing wrong with having a friend, Monsieur Cooper."

"Alright then," Sly nodded in approval. "I welcome your company."

Juliette hummed with a smile before bringing her attention to the dance floor, watching alongside Sly. He found himself looking over to his right, studying Juliette. The inner thief in him said that something was off about this individual. He just couldn't figure out what it was.

After what seemed like an eternity without talking, Juliette spoke up. "I know who you are."

"...Yes, I believe you do," Sly chuckled, slightly caught off guard by the sudden tone change in her voice. "'Constable Cooper', is what you addressed me as."

"You can cut the act, Monsieur. I know you're lying. About everything."

At hearing this, Sly's heart stopped and his body went numb. He cautiously moved his head more to fully face his company. Juliette looked smug as she caught Sly's attention at last. She almost looked as if she won the whole pot in gambling.

"Gotcha now," she stated. "Surprised?"

"H-How did you...?"

"I can read people like a book," Juliette informed. "It's one of my...many talents. Though I must say, you were quite the difficult book to read. I will congratulate you on that, Monsieur Cooper. Took me awhile to finally find you, but here we are. You played the game well, mon amie. But now is the time to stop."

Sly's eyes narrowed. Whoever this woman was, he was able to unmask his charade. And if she really does possess 'many talents', then who knows what else Juliette was capable of. Sly turned to see Carmelita, who was still distracted with her friends across the room.

"Before you ask, fear not. I have no intention of blowing your cover."

Sly was surprised by Juliette's assurance. He turned back to face the female raccoon and looked over to one of the balconies. "Perhaps we should talk about this outside?"

"Agreed," Juliette nodded. "I would hate for someone to hear us."

Unknowingly to Sly, Carmelita caught him sneaking his way outside on one of the balconies with another woman. She eyed the female raccoon, taking in her slim figure and gorgeous indigo dress. Her heart broke a little at the sight, though she kept negative thoughts out of her head. Carmelita excused herself from her friends before making her way across the ballroom, towards the balcony's location.

As soon as the duo were outside, Sly made sure the coast was clear before looking over at the female in front of him. "Who are you?"

"I did not lie when I gave you my name," Juliette assured. "Though I must inform you this - I am an agent from the City of Thieves. I assume you've heard of it?"

Sly shook his head. "Can't say that I have, no."

"Ah," nodded Juliette. "Well, you've used ThiefNet in the past, no? Who do you think operates that network?"

"Never paid much attention," Sly admitted sheepishly. "Bentley always took care of that."

"Which is exactly why I've been tracking you down. Your turtle friend had asked me to locate you."

Sly felt his lips part in shock. "B-Bentley? He's been looking for me?"

Juliette smiled. "Indeed. You've got a loyal friend, Monsieur Cooper. He claimed to have been searching for you for some time, but eventually came to the conclusion that you did not wish to be found. And so, he gave up trying. Until recently, that is."

"What changed?"

Juliette's expression turned serious. "Everything, Monsieur Cooper. I'm afraid I bring troubling news. You are in danger."

"What kind of danger?"

"I don't know all the details, I'm afraid. All Bentley told me was that there was some activity regarding your family legacy. Something - or _someone_ \- is out to get you, and they won't just stop there. Those who are close to you will suffer similar fates."

Sly took in Juliette's words and immediately thought back to two months back, when Kevin Trox was being hauled off. He swore revenge on him, but that couldn't seem right. Could it?

"You're not talking about Kevin Trox, are you? Or David Wolfherd?"

"They're both is still incarcerated," Juliette confirmed. "No, this is something else - much bigger than them."

"And how can I trust you?"

Juliette gave him an amused look. "You can't, though Bentley does. I managed to find you, didn't I?"

Multiple thoughts were going through Sly's head. If Bentley had indeed went through so much trouble to find him, then it was surely urgent. And if he had gone out of his way to hire someone, then he was sure as hell desperate. Sly had to admit, things did seem dire. If what Juliette says is true, then there could be a chance that Carmelita could end up in serious danger. His heart shattered at the thought. Perhaps this was finally it - this was his sign to come clean about everything. If only it was under better circumstances.

"Here," Juliette's voice snapped Sly out of his thoughts. She handed him a card with an address written in black ink. "Come to this address whenever you can. I've also left you a package at your apartment under Bentley's request. Please do consider, Monsieur Cooper. Times are getting darker by the minute."

Sly stared at the card before putting it away in his coat pocket. He sighed and looked up at the sky. Could this really be happening?

"Sly?" he turned to see Carmelita approaching him, her expression worrisome. "Who was that woman?"

"No one to worry about," Sly assured with an assuring smile. "Just a reporter wanting to do a story on INTERPOL."

Carmelita raised an eyebrow. "And she picked you of all people?"

Sly chuckled. "Surprising, right? I had to tell her I was the last person who she should interview." he then let out a fake yawn and looked at his watch. "I'm gonna head back to the apartment. Are you ready to head back?"

"No," Carmelita shook her head. "I'm...gonna stay here a bit longer. Don't want to miss the award ceremony."

"Right," Sly nodded. "See you later, then?"

Carmelita nodded with a small smile, kissing her raccoon lover goodbye before watching him walk away. Her heart sank, all emotions crumbled together as her fists clenched. Unknowingly to Sly and the mysterious woman, she had been eavesdropping on their conversation. It was that moment that all of Carmelita's worst fears came to life. That Barkley was right all along.

Sly Cooper was still a thief. He had never lost his memories.

* * *

To say that Sly felt uneasy was an understatement. His mind was flooded with thoughts he never thought he'd have again. Bentley was actually looking for him; he got so desperate that he hired a professional to hunt him down. What kind of danger was he in, exactly? Did it involve Bentley and Murray? What happened while he was gone? And Carmelita, would she be put in danger? Whatever the situation was, it was clear that it needed to be investigated. The thought of seeing his childhood friends again - his brothers - would be amazing. Still, it pained Sly knowing what that costed.

He was going to break Carmelita's heart.

Just as Juliette had said, a packed was waiting for Sly as soon as he returned to his and Carmelita's apartment. It didn't take too long to figure out exactly what it was. Sly felt bittersweet as he held his family's cane in his hands. It felt weird holding onto it again after whole year of disappearing. Yet somehow, it felt right. The feeling of going back out there with the gang was exciting, yet terrifying. How would Bentley and Murray react to seeing him again? They'd be relieved, sure, but wouldn't they also be angry? Sly had no choice but to laugh at himself. What a ridiculous thought; they would be overjoyed to see him again.

And so, Sly sat there on the living room coffee table for nearly hours, contemplating what to do. His grip on the Cooper cane tightened the moment he heard the apartment door being unlocked. Carmelita had appeared in the doorway, eyeing Sly as she slowly closed and locked the door behind her. Her expression was emotionless, but Sly could tell that she was not happy. The second she saw the cane in his hands was when she finally showed some emotion. Her eyes slightly widened and her mouth barley parted, as if she wanted to say something but just couldn't find the right words.

Sly couldn't take the silence anymore. He let out a sigh, his ears dropping as he continued to stare at the cane in his lap. "Carm...I need to tell you something."

Carmelita didn't say a word. She composed herself and slowly made her way over towards the living room space. The vixen sat on the sofa in front of Sly, who could tell from her breathing that she was trying not to cry or lose her temper.

"I know," she finally said.

Sly's eyes slightly widen in surprise and looked up to finally face her. He was right: Carmelita looked like she was on the edge. "W-What? You do?"

"Yes," Carmelita confirmed, her voice on the edge of cracking. "But I want to hear you say it."

Sly's ears dropped again; he felt sick. "I...I never lost my memories. I've been faking it the whole time." When his eyes looked back at Carmelita, he swore he could die right there. "I've been playing an act so that I can...finally be with you...respectfully."

"'Respectfully'?" Carmelita asked, now starting to sound angry. ""Respectfully'? Sly...what the hell could you possibly mean by that?"

"Carmelita...I have always loved you. I've always wanted to be with you. When I was about to die at the hands of Doctor M and his monster, I swore that if I ever lived, I would straight up tell you how I felt. Then...when you came in to face M, I was...I wasn't thinking. I sacrificed myself to save you, and while you fought, I did some thinking. Society would never allow this - INTERPOL's top inspector with a most wanted thief. Your reputation and job would've been at stake. Yes, I lied, but that was only so you and I could have a normal relationship. That's what I meant by being with you respectfully."

"Sly..." Carmelita's expression was unreadable. "I have been waiting on you hand and foot, helping you cope with life on the other of the law. Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to keep Barkley or anyone else in the force from locking you up? I've shared everything with you; personal things I haven't shared with anyone. I was actually happy with you, and this...this is supposed to be respectful? Sly Cooper, you know nothing about respect."

"Carm..." Sly reached out to touch her hand, but was swatted away.

"No, Sly!" Carmelita yelled as she stood up. She made a mad dash around the couch and towards the kitchen. Sly nervously stood up and watched her. Carmelita ran her hands through her hair before spinning around and glaring at him. "Do you honestly think that any of that mattered to me?! Damnit Sly, I would've taken you even if you were a male prostitute! I could've lived with the fact that you were a thief! I've grown to care about you over the years, and I could've been ready to have something real!"

"But Carm-"

Carmelita growled at him. "You lied! You lied, Sly! The worse part is...Barkley told me that you weren't all the way there. For an entire year, I've been defending you! God, I feel so fucking stupid!"

"Carm, no, you are not stupid!" Sly went over towards the kitchen. He played his cane on the island before gently grabbing both her shoulders. "You're anything but stupid, Carm. You're smart, well mannered, and wonderful in many ways. Which is why I thought that if I changed for you...then I could be better."

Carmelita shook her head. "But I didn't want anything better, Sly. I wanted you. The real you."

There was a long and awkward silence in the room. Sly sighed and let go of Carmelita's shoulders while aimlessly walking around the kitchen. He ran his hand through his hair as he tried to think of what else to say next. As if God was being merciful, Carmelita spoke up again.

"Who was that woman earlier?"

Sly shut his eyes and let out a heavy sigh. "She was...another thief, hired to track me down. I have to return to my gang."

Hearing this, Carmelita scuffed. "Typical..."

"She said I needed to return. Something's...happening."

"What is it?"

Sly shook his head. "I can't say," he finally turned around and faced her.

"Why am I not surprised?" Carmelita gritted her teeth. "You thieves and all your secrets..."

"What? No, Carmelita, it's not like that! I swear, I'm doing this to protect you!"

Carmelita growled. "Oh, bullshit, Sly! You're doing this to protect yourself! You've been lying to me for an entire year! What makes you think I can trust you now?!"

"Because I love you!"

Carmelita let out a heavy sigh as she stared down the raccoon in front of her. "So did I once..."

"C-Carm..." Sly felt taken back with hurt.

"You have ten seconds to get the hell out of here." she warned venomously.

Sly felt distraught. There was truly no way he could apologize for this. With a defeated sigh, the thieving raccoon picked up his cane and started making his way towards the apartment's balcony. Carmelita followed him, her arms crossed and her face sour. Just before Sly left, he looked back at the vixen one more time. He looked like his entire existence was over. Carmelita stood there and watched as Sly left, her eyes following the raccoon's figure until he was out of her sight completely. Then, with a choked sob, she shut the balcony doors and made a dash for her bedroom, collapsing onto the bed before breaking down in tears.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Sly felt as if his heart was ripped out of his chest and shredded in front of him. Tears stung his his eyes, nearly blinding his vision as he continued to run. Not too long after leaving, it began to rain. It was almost too perfect of timing, which made the thief more depressed. Sly took the time to look at the card Juliette had given him earlier and made a dash towards the location. It wasn't long until he came face-to-face with the female raccoon, who was standing near an abandoned building with an umbrella. She wore black skin-tight pants with black boots, a dark purple top and black leather jacket. Her hair was now slightly curly, and was in a ponytail.

Juliette caught sight of Sly approaching, her lips curved. "So you're returning? Merveilleuse!"

Sly nodded, sniffling as he rubbed his eyes. "Yeah...I am."

"Are you alright?" she frowned.

"Let's just get a move on," Sly urged, wanting to avoid conversation. "We've got work to do."

Juliette nodded. "Of course," she lead Sly towards the alleyway near then and showed him to a black car. "Get in."

Sly did as he was told and laid his head against the cool window, watching the raindrops slide down the glass as Juliette started the car and started their journey. He didn't know what the future would bring or what was threatening him, but whatever it was...Sly vowed to do what he could. He will stop this mysterious threat and return to Carmelita, where he will do everything in his power to make things right.

He loved her, and he wasn't going to let this go. Not now, not ever.

* * *

Carmelita woke up to her phone ringing loudly the next morning. She looked over at the clock and groaned before getting up. Once she had reached the living room, Carmelita picked up the ringing device and held it up to her ear.

"Hello?" she asked.

_"Hello, is this Carmelita Fox?"_

"This is," Carmelita really didn't feel like talking to anyone after last night and wanted to make this phone call quick. "Who is this?"

 _"Hello Carmelita, this is Doctor Snife. I'm just calling to give you your test results from the other day_ _."_

Carmelita blinked. "Oh, yes...thank you."

 _"You're welcome,"_ the woman on the other end replied. _"Everything looks good, Miss Fox. You seem to be in perfect health."_

Carmelita seemed confused. "What? Then why was I getting sick on-and-off again?"

A cheerful hum was heard on the other end. _"That's because you are pregnant."_

Carmelita went numb with shock. Pregnant? She looked down at herself and placed a hand over her stomach. Was she really? Mixed emotions flooded the vixen as she began to take this all in.

 _"Hello?"_ Doctor Snife's voice snapped Carmelita out of her thoughts. _"Miss Fox, are you there?"_

"Huh? Oh, yes, sorry. I'm just...trying to process this."

 _"You're alright,"_ Doctor Snife sounded understanding. _"Would you like to schedule a follow-up appointment?"_

"N-No. No thank you. Not right now."

 _"Okay then,"_ the doctor cleared her throat. _"Have a good rest of your day, Miss Fox. And congratulations! Just give me a call whenever you want to schedule a follow-up, okay?"_

Carmelita nodded. "I will, thank you. Have a good rest of your day, Doctor."

And with that, Carmelita hung up her phone. She didn't know how to feel. Carmelita always wanted to be a mother, but not like this. It pained the vixen when she touched her stomach once more. Hot tears threatened to escape, knowing exactly what to do. Carmelita could not be a single mother, nonetheless carrying a master thief's baby. What would her parents think? Hell, what would her boss and coworkers think? Carmelita was not prepared for any of this, and it scared her. She needed some advice.

Carmelita called her mother after finally mustering up the courage and told her everything that has happened. Her mother didn't seem disappointed in her, which helped Carmelita a lot. She sat there on the couch for what seemed like ages, talking with her mother on what to do. The more Carmelita talked with her, the more she started to feel better about herself. She finally hung up the phone and rubbed her stomach, a sad smile appearing on her face.

"I promise," she whispered. "I promise that you won't be alone. I will love you for the rest of my life."


	2. Russell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eleven years later, the Cooper Gang are back in Paris, villains unite, and Carmelita's son makes a discovery.

**~ Eleven Years Later ~**

**~ 2017~**

The sounds of cell doors and inmates filled the prison as a lone security guard made his way down the hall. Inmates peaked through their cell doors, taunting the guard while on the move. The guard paid them no mind; he was dead set on getting this done. Once he had finally reached his destination, the guard opened the cell door, where a vulpine and brown wolf laid on their bunk beds.

The cellmates were none other than Kevin Trox and David Wolfherd. Eleven years ago, they pulled a bank heist with their gang, until they were caught and taken in by a cocky raccoon constable. David had been working out nearly non-stop since their arrest, aiming to grow stronger so that he can easily murder that raccoon. Kevin was given medical attention after his arrest, his eye forever gone. Only a scar took its place, a nasty one that stretched from his forehead down across to his right jawline. I place of his eyes was now a black eye-patch. Whenever Kevin looked at himself in the mirror, or when someone points it out, or even touches it, he's reminded of his loss. The vulpine felt a burning rage inside of him, keeping his promise for revenge sealed into his memory.

The duo looked up at the guard with hungry eyes, which died down as soon as they saw two other guards approaching, flanking their coworker.

"Trox, Wolfherd," the guard who opened their cell spoke. "Time to get your things. You've been bailed out."

The duo eyed the guard with suspicion. This had to be some sort of trick. Who in their right mind would want to bail them of all people out of prison? Still, with these thoughts in mind the duo found some joy in hearing those words. Deciding to humor them, Kevin and David got up and allowed themselves to be cuffed before being escorted out of the holding area.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Kevin and David, now dressed in their old attire, was escorted outside, where a surprise waited for them. Standing below the prison's staircase was a slim female Blue Russian cat in a long navy blue trench coat. She also wore tight black pants and navy high-heeled boots. She was holding an umbrella over her head due to the rainy weather, so the duo wasn't able to get a good look at her until they've reached the final stair. Her eyes were turquoise, and her hair was short and barley touched her shoulders. Her hair was indigo blue, with a violet streak on her hair's right side. Her lips curved and tail swayed when she met their gaze.

"Greetings gentlemen," she spoke with a Russian accent. "What pleasure it is to finally meet you both."

"The pleasure's all mine," David spoke, earning a disgusted groan from Kevin. "I don't usually go for cats, but for you..." he continued to inspect her, clearly liking what he saw. "I think I can make an acceptation."

The feline showed no emotion at first. Moments later, a tiny smile appeared at her lips, as if she was being forced to be nice. "Follow me," she instructed before turning around to walk away.

"I'll follow her anywhere," David said quietly to Kevin as they followed, earning another disgusted groan from the vulpine.

It wasn't too long before they had reached their destination. The duo followed the Russian cat down the street and around the corner, where they continued walking until they stopped near an alleyway. Kevin and David watched as the cat pulled out a cellphone and started to send a text before putting the device back in her coat pocket.

"Mind if _we_ get under there?" an irritated Kevin pleaded, who began to shiver due to the cold weather and rain.

"No," the Russian cat replied with no emotion.

Kevin growled angrily and continued to shiver. Moments later, a limo appeared from around the corner. The vehicle came to a stop in front of the trio before the back door opened, inviting them inside. The Russian cat walked around the limo and got in from the opposite side just as Kevin and David went in through the already opened door.

"Why, hello boys," spoke another feminine voice, this one carrying a light British accent. "Glad you could make it. I hope you can thank us for the bail."

Kevin and David looked across from them as soon as they shut the door. The Russian cat took a seat and gave the limo driver a destination before shutting the window and got comfortable next to the other woman sitting next to her. As soon as the limo started moving, the other woman gave them a smile.

"Well...don't be rude. I believe a 'thank you' is in order."

The woman sitting next to the Russian cat was a female leopard with long wavy brown hair. She wore a white tank top with a black leather jacket with cheetah print trims. She also wore tight black pants with black high heels. Her hands were covered with black gloves, and her lips were a dark shade of red. Her eyes were fixed onto the men in front of her, staring them down as she licked her lips.

"Well, would ya look at that - two pussy cats!" David looked over Kevin, who glared at him. "You take the leopard."

The leopard gave an amused look and hummed. "My apologize, my dear, but I'm afraid we did not bail you out for...erotic desires." she motioned over to the Russian cat next to her, who continued to stare at them. "I believe you've met my associate, Katrina Ivanov."

"Mhm," Kevin nodded at Katrina before turning back over to their new 'host'. "And who the hell are you?"

"I am Jasmine Lowe. Now that introductions are over with, I suspect you have questions other than our names?"

"Damn right," retorted Kevin. "Why did you two go through so much trouble to bail me and my boy out? You part of a gang? Lookin' to recruit a couple thugs for a heist?"

Jasmine smirked. "You can say that. Our boss was...eager for us to come fetch you."

"But why?" inquired David, who was now taking a keen curiosity for all this.

"Allow me to answer your question with a question," Jasmine retorted. "Do you remember a certain raccoon? One Constable Cooper, I presume?"

Kevin and David's expressions went sour at the mention of that name.

"Remember him?! He's been on our minds for the past eleven years!" exclaimed Kevin, who then pointed at his eye-patch. "Ya see this?! That ring-tailed bastard did this to me! I want nothing more than to cut off his own tail and strangle him to death!"

David nodded in agreement. "He outsmarted me! I wish to crush him!"

"Then you are in luck," Katrina riposted. "How would you both like a chance at revenge?"

"Oh?" Kevin grinned. "I like this is going..."

"What's in it for you?" David asked curiously.

Jasmine hummed in response. "Absolutely nothing, my dear. Our boss, however, requires some...assistance. For the past eleven years, that raccoon and his gang have been interfering with his plans. He requires some extra help."

At the mention of a gang, both Kevin and David's ears perked up. " _His_ gang?" queried Kevin.

Katrina nodded. "Constable Cooper is actually the notorious Sly Cooper, master thief and leader of the Cooper Gang. You're honestly telling us you've never heard of him?"

Kevin growled and looked away. "Bastard..." he muttered.

"What can we do?" asked David.

"The boss would like to meet you both in person," Jasmine informed. "Just say the word, and we'll tell him we're on our way."

"And if we refuse?"

"The hell if we do!" Kevin roared, snapping his attention back onto the conversation. "I want that son of a bitch dead!"

Jasmine gave a satisfying smile. "Wonderful! Katrina, contact the boss. Let him know we'll be on our way."

Katrina nodded and took out her cell phone once more and sent out a text. Jasmine smiled at the duo in front of them and leaned back against her seat.

"Welcome to the team, gentlemen."

* * *

The bell rang throughout the school just as students were exiting their classes to head home. All except one, who was sitting just outside the principle's office. This student was a ten-year-old boy; a raccoon with auburn colored fur. He had a messy mop of hair with dark brown eyes. He wore a black shirt underneath a green hoodie. He wore a pair of dark blue jeans and sported green sneakers with black trims and laces. He sat there on the chair, bouncing his leg while fiddling with his fingers. His brow furrowed while overhearing the commotion in the office behind him. Moments later, the door opened up and Carmelita Fox came walking out alongside the principal, a brown grizzly bear in a grey suit with a red tie.

Carmelita gave the child a look that said he was in trouble, which made him scrunch his shoulders up as he gave her a sheepish look.

"Hi mom..." he greeted nervously.

"Come on, we're going home."

The boy slightly flinched at his mother's tone before grabbing his grey backpack and followed her out the doors.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

The car ride home was quiet at first before they came to a stop at a red traffic light. Carmelita sighed and looked up at her rear-view mirror, where she saw her son curled up on his seat, staring blankly through the window.

"Russell..." she sighed. "Why did you do that?"

Russell didn't take his eyes off the window as he responded, "It wasn't _that_ bad..."

"Not that bad? Russell, you covered the art room with paint and glitter! It looked like a unicorn threw up in there!" scowled Carmelita. Hearing her son snicker at her analogy made her frown even more. "Oh, you think that's funny, do you?"

"Yes, actually," Russell quipped. "Miss Bisset had it coming, anyway."

Carmelita groaned, trying so hard to focus on the road. "Now, why is that? Why go through so much trouble to ruin someone's classroom?"

"She didn't like my art project and showed it to the class. She called me out by showing everyone the things I did wrong so that they can avoid that."

"Mhm, and then what?"

Russell blinked. "She...umm...well...offered to sit down and walk me through the...project until I could handle it on my own."

"So she was doing her job." Carmelita didn't hear another peep out of her son, making her sigh. "Russell, you can't just jump to conclusions and do stuff like this. You act before you think, and that's not good!"

"Look, I'm sorry, alright?!" Russell exclaimed. "I just...I dunno, I can't help it! I'm just naturally a bad kid."

"You're not a bad kid, Russell..."

"Yeah? Then what am I? You said it yourself: I act before I think."

Carmelita didn't say anything else after that. She took a deep breath through her nose and out the mouth as she kept driving. It wasn't long until they've reached their apartment building. Russell's at-home punishment was no TV for a week, so as soon as they got inside, Russell went off into his room to do his homework. Carmelita watched her son before setting her stuff down and making her way towards the kitchen. She went ahead and made spaghetti and meatballs, Russell's favorite.

While cooking, Carmelita thought back onto what Russell had said to hear earlier. She then looked back to Russell's previous mischievous endeavors. Russell was defiantly his father's son, which was both a blessing and a curse for the vixen. Despite constantly having to get him out of trouble, Carmelita still loved her son. He was a mirror image of Sly, and the vixen still had a soft spot for the raccoon, despite what had happened. Russell was a sweet kid and they got along perfectly, but his constant devious behavior was exhausting. Though weirdly enough, Carmelita wouldn't have it any other way. He just needed to be nurtured and helped; he needed guidance to be pushed in the right direction.

As soon as she was done setting up the table, Carmelita called out to her son. Russell soon emerged from his bedroom and sat down across from his mother, proceeding to eat without a word. Carmelita felt slightly uneasy by the sudden silence. Usually, Russell is going on and on about his day, completely ecstatic and engrossed in the conversation. Tonight didn't seem that night, which meant he was upset. Carmelita understood his frustration; children did not like being in trouble, nor the discipline that came with it.

Carmelita cleared her throat. "Russell," she waited until his eyes locked with hers before continuing. "I know you're upset, but can you understand why you're in trouble?"

"Yes..." he soundlessly replied.

"So now you know what you should start working on?"

"Yes," Russell nodded in the same tone of voice. "Think before acting, like you said."

Carmelita gave an approving nod. "Exactly, very good, Russell. And you know what? How about you come to work with me tomorrow? We can spend the day together in my office. You used to love going in there and search for things I've hidden for you."

"I was a kid,"

"You still are," the vixen quipped. "But at this rate, I'm afraid you might put yourself in a position you can't get out of. Just...come to work with me tomorrow. If you're in a law-enforcing environment, it might help you learn from right and wrong as you get older. Please, Russell, I just want to help and make sure you're safe."

"You just want me to spend time with you."

Carmelita raised an eyebrow. "And you don't?"

"All you have to do is ask, ya know." Russell felt himself forming a smile.

"Alright then," Carmelita smiled. "Russell, would you like to spend time with me at work tomorrow?"

Russell gave playful look as he took a short time to think before replying, "Yeah, why not?"

* * *

Russell felt overwhelmed once he and his mother stepped inside INTERPOL's headquarters the following day. He had nearly forgotten all the adoring looks and esteemed comments his mother's coworkers gave him. Even at ten he couldn't be taken seriously, which slightly annoyed the foxcoon. Carmelita smiled and greeted her coworkers just as they greeted her. Russell was urged to do the same so that he 'wouldn't be rude'; he did with slight embarrassment. As soon as they had reached her office, Carmelita got situated behind her desk and Russell plumped himself onto one of the chairs across from her. A groan escaped his mouth as he slouched, dropping his backpack in the process.

"I thought we'd never get here..."

Carmelita snickered at her son's relief, a dotting grin on her face. "They love it when their colleagues bring in their kids."

"I'm sure the other kids hate it," retorted Russell. He got back up into a proper seating position and looked around his mother's office. It was a decent size with four windows, two chairs in front of the desk, two large filing cabinets, a book shelf, a safe behind the desk, a couple potted plants, and a wall clock that reminded the boy of school. "Not much has changed in here, huh?"

Carmelita hummed in response, taking a sip of her coffee from her travel mug. Just as she was about to respond, a knock came from the other side of the door. Following the knock entered a female duck wearing a purple top with a long pink skirt and white high-heeled shoes, and had brown eyes and short blonde hair. A good sized pile of files were in her hands, which nearly made Russell cringe at the sight.

"Good morning Abbie," Carmelita greeted, putting down her mug and reached for her glasses case.

"Good morning," Abbie greeted back. "Barkley wants these checked over and signed by noon. Says it's urgent."

Carmelita nodded as he put on her reading glasses. "Thank you, Abbie. Have a good day."

"You too," Abbie nodded. "Bye, Russell!" she waved at the foxcoon before leaving the office, closing the door behind her.

Russell waved at the door before bringing his attention back onto his mother, who was not on her first file. She wielded a black inked pen in on hand while scanning the papers in it, scribbling away. Boredom soon took its haul on Russell, who began sitting in his chair in various positions, listening to the wall clock's annoying ticking as each second passed. He eventually got comfortable by laying across on the chair, his legs dangling off the other chair's arm. Russell eventually grew inpatient and uncomfortable, a loud groan escaped his mouth as he sat back up, slouching.

"Russell, please try to not make so much noise."

"But I'm bored!"

Carmelita stopped what she was doing and reached for her purse, digging for her wallet. She took out some money and reached over the desk, handing it to her son.

"Here, go get a soda and something to snack on. But don't get something too big; I don't want you ruining your appetite before lunch."

Russell took the money and nodded without saying another word. He left the office and started walking through the halls of the large building while his eyes came into contact with the vending machines. A grin appeared on the foxcoon's face as he approached a machine, ready to pay for an item. Just as he was about to insert a coin, another hand reached for the coin slot too. This hand was roughly the same size as Russell's - maybe even a little bigger - and was grey. Russell quickly turned his head to his left and blinked in surprise.

Standing next to Russell was a male grey wolf with dark blue eyes, a messy head of hair, and wore a dark blue long-sleeved shirt. He wore a light pair of khaki pants and had on black sneakers.

"Xavier?"

The boy in next to him also donned a surprised look. "Russell? What are you doing here?"

"I could ask ya the same thing," a grin appeared on Russell's face. "Lemme guess - you were dragged here by your father after getting caught doing something?"

A chuckled escaped the wolf's mouth. "Yeah, no. My brother and I were out running errands and we had to stop by to drop something off for our dad."

"Ah," Russell replied.

"What are you doing here?"

"Here with my mom," Russell informed. "It's about yesterday."

Xavier laughed at this, earning a glare from the foxcoon. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry...but...man, that sucks."

"Yeah, it's so boring in there! Mom's doing nothing but paper work!"

Xavier was about to reply when the sound of a voice being cleared made his ears twitch. He looked back to see his older brother tapping on his wrist, making him look back at Russell with an apologetic look.

"Well, I wish I could stay and keep you company, but I gotta go."

Russell nodded, watching as his friend used the vending machine first before making his way back to his brother.

"See ya at school Monday!" Xavier called over his shoulder.

Russell quickly made his selection after saying goodbye to his friend and started making his way back to his mother's office. Xavier Aries is a year and grade above Russell, and the only guy at school who doesn't seem to mind him. The two of them have been close since Russell's first grade year, and they have been nearly inseparable since. At this point, they were almost like brothers. When Xavier found out about Russell's mischievous nature, he grew entertained. The two boys started to pull pranks on their fellow classmates and cause trouble whenever they liked. Their relationship was frowned upon by their peers and adults, but they didn't matter. Russell and Xavier had a special bond, and no one would come between them.

By the time Russell returned to his mother's office, Carmelita was already halfway done with the files she'd been assigned. The vixen looked up with her eyes when she heard the door being opened and quickly returned to her work without saying a word. Russell, with two cans of soda and chips in his hands, made his way over towards his mother's desk and sat one of the bags and soda cans on the wooden surface.

"Oh honey, thank you," Carmelita smiled. "Buy you didn't have to."

Russell shrugged. "I wanted to," he sat back down on the chair across from her and opened the bag of chips and pigged out.

Carmelita smiled sweetly before ripping open her own bag of chips. What a sweet boy, her son was. Eventually, Russell was finished and threw his bag away. He looked over at the clock and saw that only an hour had passed since they'd been here. He groaned again; adult life sucked. Russell tried to find a way to entertain himself and eventually took interest in what his mother was doing. He slowly crept next to his mother's side and peered down at the papers in front of her.

"Whatcha doin'?"

"Paperwork hun," Carmelita looked up at him and smirked. "Why? You wanna help?"

At this, Russell made a look of disgust. "Ew, no!"

Carmelita laughed. "Yeah, I wouldn't want to anyway."

"Then why are you?"

"Because I have to, sweetie."

"Why?"

"Because it's my job."

"But I thought your job was driving around in police cars, shooting at bad guys and kicking butt!" he punched and kicked the air as demonstration. Russell then motioned at the file pile. "Not sitting behind a desk and writing stuff down on stupid pieces of paper!"

Carmelita smirked at her son's theatrical rant. "Sorry hun, but this also comes with the job. Besides, these files are important."

"Doubt it," Russell rolled his eyes. "If anything, they're not gonna be looked at again! They're just gonna be shoved in these filing cabinets for all eternity!"

Carmelita chuckled. "My, you already know how it works, huh?"

"Mhm!" Russell nodded, arms crossed as if he had made his point. His eyes darted back at the filing cabinets and grinned. "Say, can I go through the files?"

"Why?" Carmelita looked up, a bit surprised by this question.

Russell shrugged. "I'm bored and I wanna read something."

"How about you read your homework and complete it?"

"But that's boring!" Russell whined. "I wanna read cool stuff, like whatever is in those files! Ya know, crime stuff!"

"'Crime suff', huh?" Carmelita tapped her pen on her desk as she began to think. "Alright, Russell...I'll make a deal with you. If you promise to get your homework done, I'll let you read one file of your choosing."

Russell's tail wagged and his eyes lit up. He looked like a little kid on Christmas day. "Any file?"

"Any file," Carmelita nodded. "But bring it to me first so that I can make sure it's appropriate enough for your age. I don't want you seeing something you're not supposed to."

"Aww, c'mon..."

"Russell..." Carmelita warned. "Take it or leave it."

"Fine," Russell groaned. "I'll take it."

Carmelita hummed in approval and went back to work. Russell wordlessly went over to his backpack and went over to one of the windows, sitting down next to it with his back against the wall. Luckily, Russell didn't have too much homework over the weekend. He only had math and history, as well as a surprise homework assignment, which was an apology letter to his art teacher for ruining the art room. As he pulled out his history textbook, Russell glanced up at the filing cabinet across the room and gave a curious look. What kind of crime files would he find in there? The excitement grew as the foxcoon opened his textbook and began to reach the assigned sections.

This was going to be a long day, for sure.

* * *

Across the city, in an abandoned warehouse, was an armed group of thugs. Agamid lizards and Indo-Pacific geckos patrolled the interior while alligator flashlight guards followed Katrina into the center of the warehouse. In the center of the room was a large supply of crates, which pleased the feline upon further inspection. She hand her hands across the wooden surfaces, a sigh of satisfaction escaped her mouth.

"Lovely," she murmured before turning around to face the alligator guards. "Get these crates loaded up into the truck, boys. The boss will be pleased."

"As nice as that sounds, I'm afraid I must disappoint him." came an unknown voice.

Everyone was startled by the voice, looking around frantically until a figure dropped from the upper-level. Sly Cooper landed a good few feet away from Katrina and her guards, Cooper cane in hand, which were covered snug inside blue gloves. He donned his signature blue shirt with his matching cap and boots. He wore a red backpack and had his old black burglar mask around his eyes. The thieving raccoon donned a shit-eating grin as he stared at the Russian cat across from him. Katrina's shocked expression disappeared, replaced with a look of sheer aggravation and annoyance.

"Sly Cooper..." she breathed. "You've been a thorn in our side for the past decade."

"I'm flattered," quipped the raccoon with a tip of his hat. "My job's not done yet, I'm afraid. You see...I'm taking those crates with me."

Katrina scoffed, "Oh, are you, now? And with what army?"

As if on cue, the wall on Sly's right burst opened, revealing the Cooper van. Bentley, Murray and Dimitri got out of the van, ready to fight alongside their leader. Sly smirked and held his arms out wide, motioning to his teammates that were flanking him.

"This one!" he exclaimed.

Katrina cursed under her breath and pointed at them. "Attack them!"

The Cooper Gang stood their ground as the gang of reptiles charged after them. Sly and Dimitri worked together while Bentley and Murray teamed up. Dimitri swung his own cane around, smacking guards across the face and sent them flying while Sly dodged and used his cane to bash the guards. Murray charged through the herd of reptiles, using his signature thunder flop whenever needed. Bentley held out his own, using his wheelchairs tech to his advantage. The turtle brought his finger up to his ear and grinned.

"Penelope, hit 'em with your best shot!"

"Rodger that, handsome!"

Penelope's RC car wheeled out of the Cooper Gang's van and started firing away at random goons, sending them scattered. Sly laughed at the sight; it was always fun scaring away guards. As he was finishing up the guard in front of him, his eyes caught the sight of the crates being taken out of the warehouse by a group of alligator guards. As soon as Sly got done with the lizard guard, he raced towards the warehouse's exit, until he was met with a foot impacting him from the side, sending him flying with a groan.

Sly looked up to see Katrina standing over him with her umbrella, her eyes narrowing at the sight of him.

"Going somewhere?"

"Not yet. First, I think I wanna dance."

"Fine, I'll lead!"

Sly dodged as Katrina leaped towards him and swung her umbrella. Upon landing, Katrina dodged as she sped-walked backwards, avoiding Sly's attacks. The Russian cat eventually jumped over the raccoon and spun around, swinging her umbrella and hitting the raccoon. Sly hissed in pain and clutched his chest. He then removed his gloved hand, seeing a tear on his shirt with a slash across his torso, blood slowly dripping out. When Sly looked back up, he saw that Katrina's umbrella had a black on the tip. A grin appeared on the cat's face.

"Ohh, did that hurt?" she mocked.

"No," Sly hissed, clearly lying to himself.

"Then does this?"

Sly's eyes widen as Katrina spun around before colliding her booted foot with his chest, sending him flying before crashing into Murray, who caught him. The duo watched as Katrina made her escape, boarding the truck. Sly groaned and looked up at his hippopotamus friend.

"We've gotta go after her!"

Murray looked over his shoulder and at Bentley, who had just finished off a goon. "Bentley, Katrina got away, and Sly's hurt!"

Bentley wheeled his way over to the duo and inspected Sly's wound. "Jeez, she really got you, Sly. Maybe we should head back to the hideout and patch you up."

"What? No, we have to go after her!" protested Sly.

"You're in no condition to go fight her, Sly! That's one nasty cut she gave you!"

"But-"

"Don't worry, bro! I'll go after them!" Dimitri volunteered as he approached.

Bentley looked up at the reptile with confusion. "And how would you do that?"

"I'll steal a bike, I dunno!" Dimitri exclaimed. "Just don't worry about me, main man! I'll track them down, take a look, and then I'll report back! And best of all...I'll do it with style! Au avoir!"

Before anyone could say anything else, Dimitri had already raced out the warehouse's exit where the truck left, dead-set on getting the job done. Bentley sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose before looking up at Sly with an assuring smile.

"See? Dimitri's got this...I hope."

Sly sighed in defeat and nodded, allowing Murray to assist him back to the van. Penelope gasped at Sly's slashed torso as she opened the van's back doors, allowing the raccoon to lay in the back and be treated by Bentley. Penelope seated herself in the front alongside Murray, who made a fast getaway in case any cops decided to arrive.

It had been ten years since the Cooper Gang had set foot in Paris, and it was unnerving - for Sly, especially. After Juliette returned him to his gang, Sly was met with hugs and speeches of their worries. Sly assured them that he was alright, and that he was enjoying life on the other side of the law, accompanied by Carmelita Fox. At first, the gang was surprised, but they were still happy for him. That was, until Sly told them what he had to do before joining them again. Everyone felt sorry for their friend, wishing that they could help. Sly thanked them for their sympathy and quickly changed the subject, questioning their lives since hid departure.

Murray was enjoying life as a professional racer, until he was contacted by Penelope and asked to return. Bentley and Penelope worked on building their own lab, conducting experiments and building advanced gadgets. Their scientific romance was blooming with every passing day. Bentley explained to Sly that he and Penelope caught wind of some unusual activity happening at Kane Island. A group of armed reptiles lead by a female leopard patrolled the island alongside a blue Russian cat. If that wasn't suspicious enough, the feline leaders had the goons raid the island of both Doctor M's machinery and whatever fortune the Cooper vault had left. Deciding to investigate, Bentley and Penelope learned that the two felines were lackeys, and that they were working for a mysterious individual who called himself 'T'. This activity on Kane Island made Bentley uneasy, and so he tried to locate Sly, but to no avail. He eventually reached out to Juliette and had her seek Sly out. While she was doing that, Bentley and Penelope recruited Murray and Dimitri.

Sly took in all this information and agreed to rejoin the gang in order to take down this 'T' individual. Whoever this mysterious character was, he was sending his goons to trespass on Cooper property and ransacked the place. What made it even more curious was how this person knew where Kane Island was. Did these people know about the Coopers? If so, what was T's plan? For the past ten years, that's what the Cooper Gang were up to. They did their best to track down the leopard and blue Russian Cat, eventually learning that their names were Jasmine and Katrina, who took on the roles of T's personal assassins and spy masters. They were dangerous individuals, and that was made clear the first time the Cooper Gang faced them head-on. Jasmine was ruthless, using blades and her claws as her primary weapons. Katrina, on the other hand, was more graceful and wielded an umbrella with a blade on the tip. She also used guns as a secondary weapon, which she takes out by surprise when her opponent least expects it.

The Cooper Gang kept track of Jasmine and Katrina, finding them raiding factories and warehouses. Every time they went after them, the Cooper Gang looses, and Sly ends up hurting himself. The raccoon had lost his mojo, finding himself making more screw-ups each heist they pull off. It was starting to become more unsettling with each passing day. They all knew the reason why - Sly was heartbroken. Even after ten years, Sly couldn't get over how he had left things with Carmelita. And now that they were back in Paris, he felt himself go numb. If Carmelita ever saw him, she could murder him, and Sly was sure of that. Sly knew he couldn't face Carmelita again, but a part of him told him to. Now that they were back, a part of Sly was telling him to try and talk to her, to see if he can make things right. The idea sounded horrible at first, but he couldn't go through life without telling her he's sorry. Carmelita may not want anything to do with him anymore, but Sly feels then need to say something to her. But for now, he only had to worry about getting better.

Bentley shook his head as he finished stitching up Sly's torso, the van coming to a stop at their safe house. Sly gave his turtle friend a knowing look, understanding what he was going to say. Telling him to be more careful next time was the oldest saying in the book. Sly just quietly agreed and got up, allowing some help as he stepped out of the van and followed everyone inside their hideout, which was a hotel that recently shut down. Sly collapsed onto the lobby's couch, Murray plopping onto the second couch next to him as he turned on the TV. Bentley wheeled his way over to Penelope, who had seated herself at the lobby's front desk.

"Any word from Dimitri?"

Penelope shook her head. "No, but I'm sure he's fine. It's Dimitri."

"My point exactly," Bentley retorted.

The phone rang seconds later, slightly alerting the duo. Penelope picked up the phone and held it to her ear. "Hello?" she asked.

 _"Oui,"_ came a familiar voice on the other end. _"Is Crackerbox alright?"_

"Dimitri?" Penelope asked, alerting the rest of the gang. They all approached the front desk, anticipating for what Dimitri found out. "Yes, Sly's okay, but where are you? Were you able to track down Katrina?"

 _"That's...why I'm calling,"_ Dimitri replied. _"I need to be broken out..."_ he whispered into the phone.

Penelope scrunched up her face in confusion. "Broken out? You mean they caught you?!"

_"Yes, but not by Kitty Lady..."_

"Then who?"

Dimitri gulped on the other end and whispered into the phone, _"This is my one phone call..."_

At hearing this, Penelope's eyes widen. "You got caught by the police?!"

 _"Yes, but that's not all!"_ exclaimed Dimitri, trying to be discrete so that the guards couldn't hear him. _"Foxy Cop Lady is here."_

The rest of the gang watched as Penelope said her goodbyes to Dimitri and hung up the phone. She looked at her audience before directing her attention onto Sly.

"Dimitri's in jail...and Carmelita's there."

"What?" Murray's eyes widen. "Then we gotta get him out!"

"Agreed," Bentley nodded. "We should put together a game plan and bust him out as soon as possible. Sly...are you okay?"

"What?" Sly snapped out of his thoughts and looked over at the turtle. "Y-Yeah, I'm alright. Just...I'll see you guys later for the plan."

Everyone watched as Sly exited the room. The raccoon felt his heart race. This was his chance to talk to Carmelita. If only it was under better circumstances.

* * *

After hours have passed, Russell groaned as he shut his notebook. His hand felt numb after all that writing. He hopped that apology letter would be enough to please his art teacher. Hell, after his mother went through all his drafts, Russell hoped this was the one. Carmelita went through and read Russell's latest draft for his apology letter, small hums of approval coming from her mouth. Finally, she handed the notebook back over to him before finishing up the last file and stood up.

"Very good, Russell. I'm proud of you. Now...I did promise, and a deal's a deal."

Russell soon forgot all about the past couple hours and raced towards the filing cabinet, excitement filled him as he opened the middle drawer and started skimming through each file. One-by-one, he pulled out a file and handed it over to his mother, who read through it and shook her head, claiming it was too much for him. Eventually, after multiple declined files, did he pull out a file that made her mother snatch it out of his hands.

"Hey!" he exclaimed. However, his irritated expression faded when he saw the look on his mother's face. Carmelita stood there, that specific file clutched in her hands as they shook. Her expression was emotionless, her eyes not breaking away from the yellow folder. Russell's brow furrowed, slowly approaching his mother with genuine concern. "M-Mom?" he reached up and placed a hand over her arm. "Are you okay?"

"Huh? Oh, yes, I'm alright."

"Are you sure?" Russell asked, not sure if he should believe her.

Carmelita nodded. "Yes, I'm fine, Russell. Trust me."

"I want to...but I don't," Russell replied. He motioned to the yellow folder in her hands. "What's that? Why did you freak out just now? You looked as if you saw a ghost."

Carmelita was about to respond when the office door opened, revealing Abbie. "Inspector, Barkley needs you in the interrogation room. Says you'll wanna see this one."

"And why's that?" Carmelita asked, secretly glad they were interrupted.

"The guy in there is a member of the Cooper Gang. A Dimitri Lousteau."

Carmelita's eyes widen. She cleared her throat and nodded at the duck. "Tell Barkley I'll be right there," as soon as Abbie left, she turned around and headed to her safe, locking the yellow folder in there. Carmelita then placed her hands on Russell's shoulder and gave him a firm look. "Russell, stay in here and don't leave until I get back. I have some important stuff to deal with."

"Why?" Russell was more confused than ever. "What's in that folder that you're too afraid to talk about? And who's this Dimitri Lousteau? And this Cooper Gang, who are-"

"Russell," Carmelita said firmly. "Just trust me on this one, okay?"

"But Mom, I-"

"Stay here, okay, sweetie?" Carmelita kissed his cheek before heading out towards the door.

Russell's ears fell as he watched his mother leave. He then looked back at the vault, a sheer look of determination appearing on his face. If his mother wouldn't tell him anything, then he'll find out for himself. Russell approached the vault and knelt down, observing it. He was lucky that it was a pad locked safe; he knew how to pick a lock. Russell had Xavier to thank for that one. Russell searched his mother's desk for a paperclip before kneeling back down in front of the vault, hoping to get a peak of that folder before his mother came back.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Carmelita opened the door to the interrogation room, where Dimitri Lousteau sat with his hands cuffed on the table. Shivers were sent down the iguana's spine when the vixen stared him down, feeling completely uneasy. Carmelita sighed and composed herself before taking a seat across from him, her hands folded together on the table.

"Lousteau..." she spoke.

Dimitri gulped, "Hello...Inspector..."

Carmelita continued to stare the criminal down, her jaw tightening. "So...you're back."

"Yes, we are..." Dimitri felt like he could die on the spot.

"We?" Carmelita questioned, making the iguana go pale. "You mean to tell me that...everyone's back? Bentley, Murray...Sly?" Dimitri didn't say anything, making the vixen shake her head with her mouth slightly parted. She almost looked like she was slapped in the face. "Amazing..."

"I-If your plan is to make me squeal like a piglet, then I won't! I-"

"Oh, I don't plan on it," Carmelita assured confidently, interrupting the thief. "I know Sly; I know how the Cooper Gang works. None of you would dare to leave someone behind. I guarantee that at some point, your friends are going to try to bust you out. And you know what's going to happen when they do? I'm going to take down every single one of them and have them put away for life. And Sly...he's going to get the most ruthless punishment of his entire life."

Carmelita gave Dimitri one last glare before getting up and making her way out of the interrogation room. Two officers came in shortly, escorting Dimitri to his cell in holding. The iguana hoped that the gang would bust him out soon, and that they were prepared to face Carmelita's wrath. Unknowing to him, Dimitri would soon find help in the most unlikely of places.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Russell cursed under his breath as he continued to fiddle with the pad lock. He eventually got it open, much to his relief. Russell looked over his shoulder to make sure no one was coming before quickly reaching into the vault and snatched the yellow folder. He wondered what was in this folder that made his mother react like that earlier, and soon he would have his answer. Russell read the file's name as soon as he held it in his hands: SLY COOPER. Russell furrowed his brow as he opened the file, skimming through Cooper's file. He learned how he was a notorious master thief, in charge of a criminal gang that has been under his mother's radar for years. What really interested Russell was the very last piece of information, which talked about how he faked being an officer of the law for a year before disappearing. All of this happened in 2006 - eleven years ago.

Russell examined the date. Cooper's disappearance happened nine months before his birthday, at the end of December. Going over the files again, Russell began to feel like something was not right. He eventually found a good picture of Cooper, making his eyes light up. Sly Cooper looked like him..

Before Russell had anymore thoughts, he heard footsteps approaching the office. In a panic, Russell snatched the photo he was looking at and stuffed in his pocket before tossing the file back into the vault, locking it up as it was earlier before getting up as the door opened. Carmelita stood there, eyeing her son with suspicion.

"What are you doing at my desk?"

"Just checking it out," Russell answered quickly, his heart racing. "I wanted to know what it felt like."

Carmelita raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I wanted to know how it felt sitting behind a desk all day doing paperwork. Just as I imagined, it was boring."

Carmelita let out a soft chuckle as she approached her son. "Yes, it can be. However, it's always nice to just sit down and relax with a nice desk job every once in a while."

"Is that how you feel?"

"Of course," Carmelita nodded. "While my job may seem exciting, it's also really dangerous. You wouldn't believe how overjoyed I am whenever I get to sit down and do paperwork. At least I know I'm safe so that I can come home to you."

Hearing this, Russell gave his mother a sympathetic smile. "Mom...I...I love you."

"I love you too," Carmelita smiled as she pulled him into a hug and kissed both his cheeks, much to his protest. When she pulled away, Carmelita went over to her desk and grabbed her purse and jacket. "Anyway, let's get you home. I'm going to be working nights for a while, so I need you at home, safe and in bed."

Russell frowned. "Aw, really?"

Carmelita firmly nodded. "Yes, really. Something important came up, and I need to be here during nights."

"For how long?"

"Until it's done," Carmelita answered under her breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing to worry about, sweetie."

Russell frowned. Was this about the criminal that she had to interrogate? Russell felt around in his pocket for the picture of Sly Cooper, an idea striking him. If this Dimitri character was part of the same gang that this Sly Cooper ran, then maybe he could answer some of his questions. It was a good plan, but Russell only had one obstacle: his mother. Just as Russell began to put on his backpack he looked over at his mother, wondering how he could give her the slip long enough to chat with the prisoner. Finally, an idea struck.

"Mom, I need to use the bathroom before we leave."

"Alright, I'll wait for you at the lobby, alright?"

Russell nodded before heading out into the hallway, acting as casual as possible. Russell had been in this building since he was in diapers; he knew where everything was, and that included holding. The foxcoon nearly smacked himself in the face as soon as he remember the security guard that worked in holding. How was he supposed to get past him? He'll just have to think of something while on the move. Russell wasn't necessarily bad at coming up with lies (he was quite the troublemaker, after all) but it was when he was put under pressure that made his lying skills weak. By the time Russell approached the holding cells, the security guard immediately got in his way.

"Hey there, Russ! Whatcha doing down here?"

Russell didn't let his nervousness show as he looked up at the pig security guard and pointed right behind him with his thumb. "I was on my way to the bathroom when I ran into Chief Barkley. Said he was looking for you."

The pig security guard raised an eyebrow. "That's funny, why didn't he just call?"

Russell shrugged, trying his best to keep the act going. "I dunno. Said he was in a hurry and had no time to call."

To Russell's surprise, the pig security guard started walking past him, grumbling something under his breath. Russell noticed that he had left the ring of keys on his desk - not a smart move on his part. Quickly, Russell grabbed the ring of keys and worked his way through them to see which would open the door. Eventually, he got the right key and entered the room, his heart thumping. Russell had never been inside holding before, so when he saw the giant cell alongside the wall, he was amazed. Leaning against the wall was a purple iguana in a green suit. Judging from all the commotion earlier, Russell had a guess that was Dimitri Lousteau.

Russell nearly flinched when those eyes landed on him. "D-Dimitri Lousteau?"

"Oui? Who are you, small fry? How'd you get in here?"

Russell cautiously moved closer to the cell, his hands gripping his backpack's shoulder pads. "My name is Russell, Russell Fox. I...I was hoping you could answer some questions for me."

"You're the inspector's kid? Man..." Dimitri started making his way closer to the boy, causing him to walk back a couple feet. "Didn't know Foxy Cop Lady squeezed one out."

Russell gave the iguana a look of disgust, but shook it off as he then reached into his pocket to fish out the picture. "I...I was sneaking through my mother's files, when I saw this - Sly Cooper? I was hoping if you-"

"Wait a minute!" Dimitri reached out towards the picture. "Gimme that!"

Russell hesitantly handed the iguana the photo and stood there, biting the inside of his cheeks while his tail swayed. He watched as Dimitri looked back and forth from the picture and him, his eyes slowly widening as if he came to a realization.

"Holy shit..." he muttered under his breath.

"What?" inquired Russell. "What is it?"

Dimitri looked back at Russell and handed him back the photo. "You...You're Crackerbox's son?!"

"Huh?" Russell blinked in confusion. "Could you be a bit more specific? I literally have no idea what you're talking about."

"Oh mon Dieu..." Dimitri face-palmed himself and pointed right back at the picture. "That's your father!"

Russell's eyes widen and looked back at the picture. It all made sense now. His constant desire for trouble, his climbing and sneaking skills, his expertise at pickpocketing. For as long as Russell could remember, he knew something wasn't quite right with him, and now he had his answer. Russell looked up at the iguana and held up the photo.

"Are you sure?"

"Kid, you're a mirror image of him. I've worked alongside Cooper for years, and I can see it. You say Foxy Cop Lady is your mama? How old are you?"

"I just turned ten two weeks ago."

Dimitri nodded. "Then, there ya go! It all lines up perfectly! My boy...you are the son of Sly Cooper!"

"Wait, hold up..." Russell blinked. "You mean to tell me...that my mother was with Sly Cooper?"

"With her? Kid, they were all over each other for years! Your father did something bad, then your mother tried to cuff him! It was one loco romance!"

"What happened?" Russell asked, feeling himself dreading the question. "If Sly Cooper and my mother were together, then why did he leave?"

Dimitri visibly cringed. "That's...a story for your papa to tell."

Russell sighed and turned away, staring directly at the photo. "All this time...I thought I didn't have a dad. Mom always told me that my father was a cop, like her. But he had died while on duty, during a gun fight against some bad guys."

Dimitri sighed and gave the kid a sympathetic look. Russell clenched his fists and stuffed the photo back into his pocket and turned around to face the iguana.

"I want to meet my father. Can you take me to him?"

Dimitri chuckled. "Oh, I would, but I can't. You see..." he motioned around him. "I need my freedom."

"But, I can't free you."

"Yes, you can," Dimitri urged. "You're Cooper's son - you can pull this off. You managed to break into here, didn't ya?"

Russell thought about it for a moment and sighed. "Okay, I guess I can...give it a try."

Dimitri watched as Russell made his way out the door and returned moments later with the ring of keys. It wasn't long before the cell door finally opened, allowing the iguana to walk out. He stared down at the boy and ruffled his head, earning a groan from the foxcoon as he smacked his hand away.

"Thanks, kid!"

"Whatever," Russell sighed. "Now, about my father..."

"Yes, follow me!" Dimitri urged, exiting the room with Russell right behind him.

To Russell's surprise, breaking Dimitri out was easy. That was, until they made it to the parking lot, where two officers stood. The moment they spotted the duo, their hands were aimed at the iguana.

"What the hell?! Hands in the air, Lousteau!"

"Certainly...I surrender..." Dimitri said in a mock defeated voice as he raised his hands over his head. Then, to everyone's surprise, he was over by the cops in a manor of seconds, taking them both out.

Russell cringed at the sight before he saw Dimitri bust open one of the police car windows. "Wait, we're stealing a cop car?!"

"Got any better ideas?!" Dimitri shouted. "Get in, kid! Ya wanna see your papa, no?"

Russell bit his lip before nodding. Just as he raced towards the car, an orb of lightning crash between the two, causing the foxcoon to step back and look up, where his mother was perched on top of the fire escape, her shock pistol in hand.

"Dimitri Lousteau!" she bellowed. "Just what the hell do you think you're doing with my son?!"

"Taking him to see his father, Inspector!" Dimitri shouted back. "Kid deserves to know the truth!"

"Russell, get away from that man this instant!"

Russell glared up at his mother. "No, I won't! You've been lying to me about everything!"

"Russell..."

"Is it true?! Is Sly Cooper my father?!"

Carmelita was taken back by the question and sighed, lowering her shock pistol. "Russell...I lied to protect you."

"So it's true?!"

"Yes," Carmelita sighed. "It's true. Sly Cooper is your father. That's why I didn't want you seeing that file, and that's why you're not going anywhere with that man! Believe me, sweetheart, you are better off without the Cooper Gang!"

"Well, maybe I'm better off with them!" Russell snapped. "I'm a problem child, remember?! I get into trouble on purpose with no real explanation, and now I know why! I'm a Cooper!"

"You are a Fox!" Carmelita yelled, getting angry. "Russell, if you get in that car, so help me..."

Russell gave his mother a stone-faced look. "Then come get me, Inspector."

"Russell?! RUSSELL!" Carmelita bellowed, watching as her son got into the car with Dimitri. She held back the tears as she aimed for the car, then dropped her weapon. Carmelita had not only lost Sly, but now her son. Her heart ached.

Carmelita realized that there was one thing to do. She vowed that whatever it took, she would bring her son safely home, and Sly Cooper behind bars for the rest of his life.

* * *

Russell stared at their destination in awe as Dimitri pulled into the back of the abandoned hotel. The two got out of the car and made their way inside, where Russell felt himself grow uneasy. The Cooper Gang were hiding out here, in this dump? A part of him was at least thankful this place wasn't completely worn down. They crossed the main lobby and through another hallway, eventually stopping at a door that read: BASEMENT - EMPLOYEE'S ONLY.

"Wait right here," Dimitri told the foxcoon. "I'll let them know you're here."

Russell stood there and watched as Dimitri opened the door, where the sounds of people talking emerged. Russell stood there for a few short moments before he deiced to disobey Dimitri and crept down the basement stairs, listening as the voices grew louder.

"Dimitri, how did you get out?!" came a woman's voice.

"We were just about to put our plan together," a nasally male voice spoke. "But I guess that's over."

"What a surprise!" boomed a heftier male voice.

"Good to have you back, Dimitri." came a fourth voice, this one also male.

"Good to see you too, Crackerbox." Russell's eyes widen in awe at the mention of that nickname. Was Dimitri talking to his father? "Though I can't take all the credit for my escape. Ya see, I had help."

"Oh? Who helped you?" the nasally voiced questioned.

Just as Dimitri was about to speak, the stairs creaked, alerting everyone. They all turned and stared in surprise when they saw Russell cautiously walking down the stairs, eyeing them with uncertainty. Russell took note of the green turtle in the wheelchair, the lavender female mouse by his side, the large pink hippopotamus, and finally, the male raccoon in blue. Russell gulped nervously as he then looked over at Dimitri, who nodded at him.

"Um...h-hello..." Russell timidly spoke. "I, uh...I was hoping to find...S-S-Sly C-Cooper?"

The male raccoon in blue stood up and made his way over towards Russell before kneeling down to his eye level. "That's me, kid. Who are you? How'd you get here?"

"Dimitri drove me here," Russell answered.

Sly's brow furrowed as he looked up at the iguana. "You drove a kid here?!"

"It's not what you think, main man!" Dimitri insisted. "Kidnapping a child is uncool, bro! No, he wanted to come here, to meet you!"

"Why?" the pink hippopotamus asked. "Why would a kid ask to see Sly?"

Sly looked back at the kid and inspected him. "Who are you?"

Russell gulped as he stood up straight, staring at the raccoon in front of him in the eyes.

"My name is Russell. I'm your son."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this concludes chapter 2! My goal is to try and update this story weekly, though it may get a little tough sticking to that. My spring semester starts this Saturday, so it all depends on how my class goes. But I promise to try to update as regularly as possible!
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!
> 
> Until next time,
> 
> ~Nixter97~


	3. Father

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sly meets his son for the first time; Carmelita is heartbroken; the Cooper Gang has a plan in the works.

Everyone in the room held a pregnant pause after hearing what child in front of them had just said. Bentley and Penelope exchanged knowing glances at each other as Murray stared back and forth between Sly and Russell, who looked nervous. Dimitri leaned against the wall behind Russell, who had already experienced this bewildering discovery, and lit a cigarette. Sly stared at the child in front of him, his eyes slightly widen while his mouth hung loose as if he had forgotten how to speak in mid-sentence. Eventually, the raccoon blinked and snapped himself out of his trance.

"W-What?" he inquired.

Russell bit the inside of his cheeks once more as his tail hugged his legs. He gripped his backpack's shoulder straps tighter before he repeated, "I'm your son, Russell?" he didn't mean to make it sound like a question, but the foxcoon was nervous enough as it is. Was this man in front of him not happy? Is there truly a darker reasoning for his disappearance? Perhaps his mother was right; he should just leave and race to home, where he can engulf his mom in a loving embrace and apologize.

Then, to Russell's surprise, Sly spoke again. "A-Are you sure?"

Russell timidly nodded. "Y-Yes? I was told you were with my mom? Her name is Carmelita Fox."

"What?" Sly's gawked. "H-How...How old are you?"

"I'm ten," Russell informed.

Ten...this kid was ten years old. It didn't take long for Sly to put the pieces back together. Carmelita must have given birth nine months after he'd left, which meant those times of her being sick...that doctor appointment...

"Oh my god," Sly quickly shot up and ran his hands through his hair, looking back at his gang. "He's ten..." he murmured. "Oh god, he's ten..."

There was no denying it. This kid was in fact his son.

Sly felt his heart explode and that tears were about to break through his eyes. He covered his mouth with one hand while rest the other on his waist. Russell just stood there, his ears slowly starting to drop as all the tensed-up feelings began to evaporate away. Before he knew it, Sly was knelt down in front of him again and engulfed Russell in his arms, holding him close in a hug. The boy's eyes widen, feeling his own set of tears form as he nuzzled into his father's embrace, closing his own eyes in the process. The rest of the Cooper Gang stood there quietly, watching the scene in front of them unfold with bittersweet smiles.

After what seemed like forever, Russell whispered, "Hi, Dad..."

Sly let out a choked laugh before he whispered back, "Hi, Son..."

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Russell was seated on a chair at one of the hotel's tables in the dining room. Across from him was his father, who had a gleeful expression on his father. Russell smiled back before looking around the rest of the table, where each member of the Cooper Gang sat. Across the dining table were boxes of pizza - courtesy of Murray, who went out to pick some up for 'celebration'. Russell timidly grinned while watching his father and his gang mess around eating. It was both entertaining and homely, which is more than what Russell was expecting.

"So Russell," he looked over at Sly, who motioned to his friends. "I'd like to formally introduce you to my gang - Bentley, Murray, Penelope, and of course, you know Dimitri."

Russell timidly waved at them, feeling somewhat less nervous when they smiled and waved back.

"Oh, he's so cute!" squealed Penelope. "You look so much like your father, ya know that?"

Bentley nodded. "Indeed. He's a mirror image of Sly, alright."

"Um...t-thanks," Russell felt himself blush. He looked up at his father. "I...I'm glad to finally meet you! I have so many questions!"

"And I have answers," nodded Sly. "I'll be more than happy to tell you anything."

Russell slowly began to frown. "Okay then," he sighed. "Why did you leave?"

The whole table went silent after those words left Russell's mouth. "Not beating around the bush, huh?" Dimitri mumbled, shortly earning a slap on the shoulder from Penelope.

Sly stared at Russell uneasily before he let out a heavy sigh. "Yes, I...I suppose you deserve to know."

"Suppose?" Dimitri asked out loud, earning another slap from Penelope.

"Maybe we should talk...in private," Sly looked over at his gang. They quickly got the message and cleared out of the room, with Murray grabbing one of the pizza boxes with him. Once they were left alone, Sly sighed and rubbed the back of his neck as he looked back at Russell.

"Son..." he began. "There's no easy way to say this, so I'll just say it like it is. Eleven years ago, I was approached by another thief - an agent for a secret society of thieves - who told me that I was in danger and needed to return to my gang. That turtle in the wheelchair - Bentley - hired her to find me so that I was aware of the situation."

"What situation?" Russell asked, growing curious.

Sly shifted in his seat before answering. "Apparently, someone was out trying to do some harm to my family name, and that they would target the ones I cared about. Carmel- your mother - would have been in danger if this threat was real."

"So, what, you left us because of some accusation?" Russell started to feel himself grow bitter.

Sly frowned. "I'm sorry, Kiddo. I know it wasn't...the smartest idea, but I didn't have a choice."

"There's always a choice," lectured Russell. "Mom taught me that when I was younger."

"I left because your mom threatened me and kicked me out," Sly informed, shutting his son up. "I came clean to her for lying about my memory loss. As a result, she got mad and never wanted to see me again. I had no idea that she was pregnant with you, Russell, and if I did, I sure would have been there. You're my son, and I love you."

Russell clenched his fists and looked away. "How can you love me? You don't know anything about me. You didn't even know I was born for ten whole years..."

Sly felt his heart ache at those words. Though truth be told, the kid was right. "Then let me get to know you!" Sly beamed, making his way around the table. He knelt down in front of Russell and placed his hand on the kid's shoulder. "Tomorrow, we'll spend the whole day together. We'll have a Father-Son Day! How does that sound?"

Russell didn't say anything at first. Then, to Sly's relief, he timidly looked back at Sly and slowly nodded, a small smile forming on his face. A yawn escaped Russell's mouth moments later, and rubbed his eyes.

Sly grinned. "Sleepy, Kiddo?"

"No," Russell lied. "I'm not. I can stay up all night, and I have!"

"Probably not the best thing to do for someone your age."

"You sound like Mom..."

Sly chuckled as he got up and had his son get out of his chair. "No, I sound like a parent. Now, let's get you to bed."

Sly lead Russell into the main lobby, where everyone looked up from what they were doing. "Had a nice chat?" Bentley asked.

"Yeah, just taking him to bed," Sly nodded as they passed through. "Doesn't wanna admit it, but he's exhausted."

"No, I'm not!" protested Russell, earning an adoring 'aw' from Penelope.

Sly smirked and ruffled his son's head as they entered one of the lobby's elevators.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

It wasn't long before Russell found himself on a bed in one of the hotel rooms. He didn't have any pajamas with him - much to his discomfort - but at least the hotel had bath robes. Russell stripped his pants and covered himself with the robe, tying it shut before getting under the covers and resting his head on one of the pillows. Sly emerged into the room moments later, sitting on the edge of the bed and smiling down at his son.

"You comfortable?"

"Yeah," nodded Russell. "It's just..." he sighed. "I'm kinda starting to feel bad about earlier."

Sly gave him an empathetic smile. "Son, you have every right to be upset. I wasn't there for you or your mother back then, but I'm here now, and I plan on making things right."

Russell grinned. "Thanks, Dad, but...I was actually talking about Mom. I left her - yelled at her before I allowed Dimitri to take me here."

"Yelled at her?"

"Yeah," nodded Russell, slowly sitting back up. "When I found out the truth about who my father was, I snapped. It was like something within me changed. I knew I was always a troubled kid, but I never-"

"Hey," Sly interrupted him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay. You made a mistake. And you're not a troubled kid, Russell. You just got emotional, that's all."

"But what if she hates me now?" Russell started to feel tears threatening to fall down his cheeks. "I don't want to be hated! I love her! She was always there for me, cared for me, and now I just...left it all behind!"

Sly didn't say a word. He sighed before pulling Russell into a hug, allowing his son to cry as he began to rub circles around his back.

"I don't think she hates you," Sly murmured. "In fact, she's most-likely worried sick about you. After we spend the day together tomorrow, I think it'll be best to send ya back home."

"What?" Russell sniffed as he looked up at the older raccoon. "Would I...ever see you again? I only just found you, Dad. We should be a family!"

"That's easier said than done, I'm afraid," sighed Sly. "But I'm going to do whatever I can to set things right. I promised myself that years ago."

"Earlier, you mentioned you lied about memory loss..." Russell bit his lip. "That's why Mom kicked you out, right? Why did you do it?"

Sly dreaded this question, but he knew his son deserved to know. As Sly began to tuck Russell back into bed, a look of regret appeared on his face.

"I did what I did because I thought she deserved someone better. I was...wrong. Now, it's up to me to make things right. I still love her, Russell, and I'm going to prove it. But right now..." he kissed his forehead. "You need to sleep, Bud."

Russell took in his father's words and watched as he began to exit the room. "Dad?" he called out, causing him to stop and turn his head back. "I'm happy I got to meet you."

"Me too, Kiddo. Goodnight." Sly smiled before finally exiting the room.

"Night," Russell smiled. He then yawned and laid back down in his bed, allowing sleep to take him away.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"You good, Sly?" Murray asked as soon as the raccoon stepped out of the elevator.

Sly nodded. "Yeah, Murray. Just...I just can't explain it. I'm a dad!"

Bentley smiled as he wheeled his way over towards him. "That's really something, Sly. We're all really happy for you."

"Thanks guys," said Sly.

Murray frowned. "Sly? I know...I know you're excited and all - I know I am - but what about Carmelita? The kid ran away to see you."

"He's right," Bentley agreed. "I hate to say it, but we may have to face Inspector Fox."

Sly shook his head. "No, guys. Thanks, but this is all on me. I'll take Russell back to Carmelita later tomorrow. I want to at least spend time with my son before my ass becomes grass."

"Fair enough," Murray shrugged.

"Sly," Sly looked at Bentley. "I know it's late, but I'm afraid we've got pressing matters to deal with."

Sly raised an eyebrow. "What kind of matters?"

Bentley wordlessly lead both Sly and Murray to the dining room, where a familiar figure waited for them. Sitting at the end of center dining table was a female raccoon with black hair who Sly recognized. She wore a black sleeveless jumpsuit that showed off some of her cleavage with a matching pair of black high-heeled boots, which was reclined on the table until she caught eye of the trio. Her dark red lips curved into a smile as she placed her feet back onto the ground and stared at the original Cooper Gang members. Dimitri and Penelope were seated at a nearby table, uneasily watching the scene unfold.

"Ah, Monsieur Cooper!" she spoke to Sly. "We meet again!"

Sly's jaw tightened as he continued to stand there, his friends flanking him. "Juliette," he greeted dryly with a nod.

"Please, sit!" she motioned to the various seats at the table. She waited and watched as the trio took their places at the table, Penelope and Dimitri eventually joining them. "I suspect you are wondering why I'm here, no?"

Sly ignored her question and looked over at Penelope. "How'd she get in here? How did she even find us?"

Penelope shrugged. "I have no idea. Bentley and I made sure our new security system worked to a T."

"My dear, you really should do better," Juliette sounded bored. "I've cracked codes harder than that. Completely amateur work, I must say."

"Amateur?!" Penelope gawked, feeling herself go red with anger. Bentley placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, clearly not wanting his girlfriend to lose her cool on their guest. He turned over to Sly and nodded.

Sly nodded back before looking back at Juliette, who didn't at all seemed phased by her direct insult nor Penelope's short outburst. "Why are you here, Juliette?"

"I'm afraid our paths must cross again," Juliette informed. "I am, of course, talking about that threat that you've been chasing all these years."

"Jasmine and Katrina," nodded Sly. "Yeah, all we know is that they've been collecting some tech and working for someone called 'T'."

"That's not all, I'm afraid. I've picked up some new details that I think you'll all find quite fascinating."

Bentley withdrew his attention from his girlfriend as soon as heard that and looked over at the female raccoon. "What kind of details?"

"Do you remember those thugs you apprehended eleven years ago, Cooper?" Juliette asked, ignoring Bentley. "Kevin Trox and David Wolfherd?"

"Yes," Sly replied, almost in question. "What do they have to do with any of this?"

"It would seem they're free men,"

Sly's eyes widen. "What? That can't be right. I remember that case; their sentence isn't up yet! You mean to tell me they were broken out?"

Juliette shook her head. "No, not broken out. They were bailed, and quite handsomely, if I may add."

"Who would bail those two out?" Murray asked.

"Must you ask?" Juliette rhetorically inquired.

Bentley adjusted his glasses and gave off a grim demeanor. "Jasmine and Katrina."

"Why would they do that?" Sly grew uneasy, almost as if he already knew the answer.

"Perhaps this 'T' person requested it, if those two were involved..." Bentley pondered for a moment before looking back at Juliette. "Where are they now? Do you know, by any chance?"

Juliette shook her head. "I'm afraid not. However, I do have another agent on the case. He's a contact of mine, and he's been assigned to track them down and keep tabs on their movements. This will benefit us for when we capture them."

"Us?" Sly asked.

"Yes," confirmed Juliette. "I have decided to return and lend my assistance, free of charge."

"Why? What made you decide to help, after all these years? Why do you care?"

Juliette stared at Sly sternly. "I have my reasons, Cooper, and for now, they remain personal. Just know that I intend on assisting your gang in bringing these scumbags down." She then got up and began to exit the room, but not before stopping at the doorway and looking over her shoulder. "I'll be back in the morning, Cooper Gang."

The Cooper Gang watched as their 'friend' left, leaving an awkward silence in the room. Murray rubbed the back of his head and looked over at Bentley. "She's weird, Bentley. What could possibly make her want to help us now?"

"I don't know," Bentley shook his head. "But if her reasons truly are personal, then we should respect them for now. Now then, why don't we all get to bed? It's pretty late, and I'm sure we're all tired."

"Agreed," Sly yawned. "We can worry about all this later."

"Sly, a moment?" Bentley requested, earning a nod from his raccoon friend. Once everyone was out of the room, Bentley looked up at Sly with a anxious expression. "Please be careful if you go out tomorrow, Sly. Now that you have a son, things could get hairier than usual. It's dangerous for him to be with you now that Kevin and David are out on the loose."

Sly gave him a knowing look and nodded, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I know," he then gave a reassuring smile. "But I'll be careful, Bent. I'm not going to let my kid get hurt. I can take care of us both if something happens."

"I hope you're right," Bentley frowned. "From what you've told us, Kevin and David seemed pretty heated with you. Heck, you did quite the number on that fox."

"He's a psychopath, Bent - they both are. They'll swear revenge for anything."

Bentley stared sternly at Sly. "You took Kevin's eye, Sly. That's something someone like him wouldn't forget. I bet he's out there right now, looking for you."

"Let him," Sly challenged.

"God," Bentley sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Okay, look, just...be careful, Sly. We lost you before, and we sure don't wanna lose you again. If he finds you - especially Russell - he may do everything in his power to make you suffer."

Sly crossed his arms, clenching his knuckles as he felt himself boil at the thought of someone hurting his son. "That won't happen," he swore. "I'll protect Russell and Carmelita, Bentley. That's a promise."

"I'm not doubting you," Bentley assured. "I'm just worried. I want you to be careful, Sly. We all do."

"Thanks, Bentley," Sly gave the turtle a small smile before exiting the room with him. "I will."

* * *

Carmelita was a mess. Ever since Russell ran away, she'd been up the whole night rummaging through her office, going through maps of the city and any recent reports of criminal activity, hoping that there was even a slick of chance the Cooper Gang was involved. Carmelita hunted down the infamous thieving gang for years and could never find their hideout, but this time was different. The vixen was determined to find them if it was the last thing she'll ever do. Her hair was sprawled out into a frizzle mess, her coffee machine was abused, and her once tidy office looked as if a tornado had come through.

"Where the hell are you...?" Carmelita bit her pen while going over one of the city maps. If there was one thing about the Cooper Gang that she knew of, it was their choice in hideouts. Thieves and other criminals tended to take abandoned or worn down buildings as safe houses, so she at least had that to go on. Unfortunately, there were many areas in Paris where that could be.

A knock came at the door shortly, nearly startling the vixen. "Come in," she invited, her eyes not leaving her work. The door opened seconds later, followed by the sound of a throat being cleared. Carmelita looked up and forced a smile on her face. "Oh, Chief Barkley. How are you today?"

"I'm fine, Inspector..." he eyed his employee and her office. "How...How are ya holding up?"

"I'm fine," Carmelita lied, reaching for another file. "Just busy, that's all."

Barkley cleared his throat again, carefully maneuvering through the room, careful not to make more of a mess. He reached Carmelita's desk and studied her, almost astonished. "Where you...here all night?"

"Yes," she quickly answered. "So much needs to get done."

"Carmelita..."

"He's out there..."

"Carmelita..."

"If I could just find-"

"Carmelita!" Barkley exclaimed, snapping the vixen out of her thoughts. Barkley gave her a sympathetic look. "I know you miss your boy, and we're all grieving for you. But this...isn't healthy. You need to head home and get some rest."

Carmelita's eyes nearly popped out. "What? No! No, I can't do that! Russell is out there, Chief, and I need to find him! The Cooper Gang has him, and I need to save him!"

"I understand, but-"

"I need my son back, Barkley!"

"I know!" Barkley exclaimed once more, shutting her up. He could see she was on the verge of breaking down, which was a hard sight to see. Carmelita Fox was one of the toughest people he knew in INTERPOL, and to see her this vulnerable seemed unnatural. Barkley let out a sigh and opened his arms before pulling Carmelita into a hug. He could feel her shake before a few quiet sobs escaped her. "There, there, Carm..." he rubbed her back before pulling away. "I promise...we'll do whatever we can to help. We'll even alert the city if we have to. Just please...go home."

"But I can't just-"

"You need to get some rest, Carmelita. It's eight in the morning, and you've been here all night. Go home and rest. Trust me, you're in no condition to go out right now. You'll feel better after some sleep."

Realizing she wasn't going to win this battle, Carmelita let out a defeated sigh and nodded before collecting her things. She made her way out the door, saying quietly to herself, "With all do respect, I won't feel better until my son is back with me."

* * *

Russell scrunched up his face as the sunlight pierced through the bedroom's window. He rubbed his eyes under the covers before slowly rising out of bed. After blinking a couple times, it dawned onto the foxcoon that he wasn't back at his apartment. The memories of last night finally settled back with Russell as he remembered everything that had happened. He ran away from home, met his father and his criminal gang, and then he was lead up here to sleep. Russell stepped out of bed and made his way over towards the window, pulling the curtains back and gazed outside.

"Wow..." he said in awe. Russell didn't realize how good of a view this place had. Unlike his apartment, Russell could actually see the Eiffel Tower from here, clear as day.

"Enjoying the view?"

Russell nearly jumped at the voice and spun around, seeing his father at the doorway with a smile on his face. "Morning," he greeted.

"Good morning, Dad." he replied.

"You hungry? We got pancakes downstairs."

As if on cue, Russell's stomach growled, making him blush. "Yeah, I'll be down."

Sly nodded and left the room, leaving Russell along. Not wanting to keep everyone waiting, Russell took off the robe and tossed it on the bed before grabbing his jeans and shoes that were placed by the window. Once fully dressed, he made his way out of the room, prepared to spend some time with the Cooper Gang.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

By the time Russell made it to the hotel's dining room, everyone was seated as Murray and Sly served the pancakes, along with bacon, eggs and sausage. As the serving trays were placed on the table, Russell felt his stomach rumble, craving for food. Penelope looked over just as she finished pouring herself a glass of orange juice and gave him a friendly smile.

"Good morning, Hun! Did ya sleep well?"

Russell nodded, taking his seat by Penelope. He began to pour himself a glass of orange juice just as a serving tray with bacon was placed in front of him. The foxcoon looked up to see Murray standing on the other side of the table, who also gave him a friendly greeting.

"Good morning, Kiddo! Ya hungry?"

Russell nodded his head. "Y-Yeah, thank you."

"Take as much as you want," Bentley told the boy as he wheeled himself next to Penelope's other side. "Murray accidentally made too much."

Murray shrugged. "Meh, more food, the better. That's what I always say."

"When have you ever said that?" Dimitri challenged as he took a seat next to Murray.

"I...Uhh..."

Grinning in victory, Dimitri fixed himself a plate. Russell couldn't help but grin at the exchange as he too began to fill up his own plate. Sly sat down next to him and ruffled his head. "Glad to see you finally decided to come down here, Bud! You ready for a fun day?"

"Mhm, you bet!" Russell exclaimed joyfully, his tail swaying. "Will there be any mischief?"

Sly chuckled. "How about we just have a normal Father-Son Day, okay Russell? I don't wanna get you in trouble."

"I'm always in trouble," Russell retorted. "You should see me in school."

Murray snicked. "Gee, he reminds me a lot like you, Sly."

"Like father, like son." Bentley agreed before taking a sip of his coffee.

Just as Sly was about to reply, the sound of a door closing caught everyone's attention. Juliette came walking in wearing a long black winter jacket and a beanie. She took off the extra layer of clothing to reveal the outfit she had on yesterday and tossed the jacket and beanie onto one of the unoccupied dining tables.

"Morning, Cooper Gang!" she announced as she took a seat next to Dimitri. The female raccoon's eyes soon met Russell, who stared at her back with an equal amount of curiosity. "And who is this?"

"This is my son, Russell," introduced Sly as he patted his son's shoulder. "Russell, this is Juliette. She's...an old friend of ours."

"Friend?" Juliette questioned with a hint of sarcasm. "I wouldn't go that far. We're more like...'close associates'."

Sly rolled his eyes. "Sure, whatever you say."

"N-Nice to meet you." Russell greeted politely.

"Le plaisir est pour moi," Juliette replied just as kindly. "Strange...Cooper never mentioned he had an offspring."

"I never knew," Sly informed. "Until yesterday, that is. Dimitri brought him here under his request."

Dimitri grinned as he slowly reached his hand over towards Juliette's thigh. She smacked his hand from under the table, making him yelp and retreated, feeling embarrassed. The female raccoon hummed in response as she began to help herself to some of the food, ignoring Dimitri's hurtful glare.

"Well, while I am happy for you, Monsieur Cooper, I'm afraid we have more pressing matters to attend to."

Sly frowned at this. "I'm aware of that, but I sorta promised my boy I'd spend the day with him. I wanna get to know my son."

"And I understand," Juliette assured firmly. "But with these criminals on the loose - clearly targeting you - family bounding just isn't appropriate at this time."

Everyone could tell that Sly wanted to argue with the French raccoon across from him. Bentley decided that he would break the silence and gave him an assuring smile. "It's okay, Sly. Go on ahead and spend the day with Russell. We can handle things here for the day."

"Bentley...are you sure?"

"Yes," he nodded. "Go, spend time with with your son. I'll fill you in later on what we've learned."

Juliette said nothing during the exchange, which told Sly that it was okay. Feeling the weight lift from him, Sly looked down at Russell and grinned. Russell grinned back, clearly happy that he can spend some time with his father after all. Evidently, Juliette did decide to speak up, and cleared her throat.

"While that is all and good, there's just one little problem. I shall make one suggestion, yes?"

"And what would that be?" Sly asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Your appearance," Juliette observed. "If you are to go out, at least disguise yourself."

Sly smirked. "Nah, I'm just gonna walk through Paris like this."

Bentley rolled his eyes. "While disguising you is a given, I would also alter Russell's appearance as well."

Sly nodded, understanding what Bentley was saying. Juliette furrowed her brow and looked over at the turtle with curiosity. "And why is that? The child has pulled no crimes, I'm sure?"

"Except running away from his mama...OUI!" Dimitri shook his now-stinging hand in the air before pressing his lips against the red spot on the back side. He had once again tried to touch Juliette, which he now regretted.

"Inspector Fox is his mother," Murray told her. "And Sly wants to be able to spend the day with their son without getting recognized."

"I see," Juliette nodded. "Fine, but I don't know where you'd fine something child sized without actually going out."

"Bentley might have something," Penelope suggested. "He and Russell are almost the same size, it seems."

Bentley nearly spat out his coffee and gawked at his girlfriend. "I don't wear child-sized clothes!" he then looked around the table, motioning to himself. "Do I?!"

Sly smirked. "Well, you _are_ the smallest out of all of us. Could we at least look and see what you have, Bent?"

Sighing, Bentley waved him off. "Yes, I suppose."

"Great!" Sly then looked down at Russell, who was beaming. "Let's go, Bud!"

* * *

Dressed in a white T-shirt with a black turtle silhouette print on the chest and a blue jean jacket was Russell. He also wore a pair of glasses and a black beanie, which he hoped would make him look unrecognizable. Russell kept his same jeans, but traded his sneakers for a different pair, which was black and white. Russell felt silly wearing all this, but at least it was only temporarily. It was also kind of fun; he used to play dress-up all the time when he was younger, so doing this while sneaking around had such a rush; something that Russell could easily enjoy.

Sly had one a black wig and a fake piercing in his right ear. He had on a grey T-shirt underneath a blue hoodie with black sleeves, as well as dark blue jeans and black boots. Sly and Russell left the hotel about ten minutes ago, trying to be as discreet as possible. Sly had years of experience doing this, so he had plenty of practice to act as someone else. Russell, on the other hand, looked awkward in his movements. The older raccoon looked down at his son and could help by let out a chuckle.

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to get in character," Russell replied, limping his left leg. "This is how it works, yeah?"

"A disguise doesn't necessarily mean you have to give yourself a unique trait, Russell. Here's a little thieving tip for you: sometimes smaller is better. Just be yourself and act natural, Son."

Russell took in his father's words before coming to a halt. He then took in a deep breath and started walking like normal, allowing himself to release the stress from his body. He looked up at Sly and gave him a sheepish smile.

"Guess I'm a little extra, huh?"

"You'll learn," Sly grinned. "Now, what do you want to do today?"

"Hmm..." Russell began to think.

* * *

Back at the hotel, Bentley and Penelope were down in the basement, setting up the projector for Juliette's return. She was supposedly bringing her contact, who claims to have knowledge of where Jasmine and Katrina would target next. Murray and Dimitri were already seated at the tabled in the room, playing cards as they waited.

"You have any sevens?" Murray asked in a bored tone.

"Go Fish," Dimitri replied.

Penelope looked over at Bentley. "Do you think Sly and Russell will be alright with Kevin and David on the loose? What if something happens and we're not there to help?"

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about Sly," Bentley assured. "He can take care of himself. And I'm sure Russell will be just as safe."

"Besides," Murray spoke, overhearing the conversation. "What are the chances of those two going out in daylight?"

Penelope gave the hippo a deadpanned expression. "They can still go out, Murray."

"Okay, well what are the chances of them recognizing Sly in disguise?"

"I'm sure that Crackerbox will be alright!" declared Dimitri. "Small Crackerbox will be safe with him around."

"'Small Crackerbox'?" Penelope sighed. "Don't give him that nickname, too. He's just a kid."

"Which makes him a smaller crackerbox," Dimitri retorted. "Cooper's a crackerbox, the kid is Cooper's son. Therefore, his nickname is Small Crackerbox."

Penelope shook her head. "What does that even mean?"

The sound of the basement door opening and closing caught everyone's attention. Juliette came down the stairs, accompanied by a handsome stranger. He was a male tuxedo cat with black fur and white paws and ears, and a white tip on his tail. He had green eyes and wore a black leather jacket over a light green shirt and wore black pants and matching boots. He stood a couple feet taller than Juliette, carrying a backpack in his right hand as he waved at the Cooper Gang.

"Cooper Gang," he nodded, speaking in a chill tone. "Nice to finally meet you."

"Are you Juliette's contact?" Murray asked.

The cat nodded. "I am. Daniel Wright, at your service. I'm also an agent for the Guild."

"Guild?"

"The City of Thieves runs as a guild," Juliette explained. "Daniel and I have been acquainted for some time now. He's agreed to help by assisting me tracking down T's lackeys, and finding out their next target."

"And that's why he's here, to give an update?" Penelope asked.

Daniel nodded. "That's correct," he walked over to where the projector and added in some slides, the first one showing off a shipment being loaded into a warehouse. "For some time now, 'T' has had these shipments delivered to various warehouses across the globe. A new shipment is on the way to a warehouse just outside the city, which is expected to show up tomorrow night."

"No doubt one of them will show up to collect it," Bentley commented.

"Right again," Daniel switched to the next slide, showing the actual warehouse. "We know this shipment will show up here tomorrow night, but we don't know who will collect the package. Which is fine, because that does not matter. What does matter is that we have the element of surprise. If we can set up a trap, then capturing one of 'T's lackeys will be easy. From there, interrogation would be in order. Find out who they're working for and where to find them, then this whole situation will be over."

"Easier said than done," Murray frowned. "We've been chasing after Jasmine and Katrina for the past ten years. If we couldn't capture them then, how could now be any different?"

"Because this time, you've got us," Juliette grinned. "Cooper's in danger, but so are we. Unlike then, we have our own reasons to go after them."

"Ah, I see," Dimitri rolled his eyes. "Get involved once it concerns you. We're honored for the help."

Juliette glared at the iguana. "Think whatever you'd like, but at least be thankful we're helping now."

"Well, we appreciate it," Bentley assured. "So, what's the plan?"

Juliette gave the turtle a knowing grin. "I'm glad you asked..."

* * *

The day had gone by quicker than Sly and Russell had hoped. Throughout the day, the united father and son had been all over Paris, partaking in almost everything the city had to offer. They toured the Louvre and eyed the exquisite art, they went to the top of the Eiffel Tower and gazed upon the large city from the magnificent view. They even went to see that new action movie Russell's been begging his mother to take him to. It was a long and adventurous day, and the duo had enjoyed every second of it.

Throughout their time together, Sly made the time to learn more about his son, and vise-versa. Sly had learned that Russell's birthday was September 13th, 2007. With that knowledge, Sly made a mental note to make up for all those birthdays he had missed, starting with the one from two weeks ago. After learning that Russell liked Old Western stuff, Sly got him a toy cowboy handgun, which Russell seemed to enjoy. Sly also learned that his son liked the color green, had a sweet tooth, and was quite the trouble-maker. Russell shared with his father stories about how he and Xavier caused mischief whenever they pleased, which earned a few hearty laughs from the older raccoon.

"...And then we waited for the door to fully open, laughing as the yokes landed on Carson!"

Sly chuckled as he adjusted himself at his seat. They were currently sitting outside of a cafe, having a late lunch before returning back to the hotel. "That's quite the story, Son. Truth be told, I'm impressed."

"Really?" Russell perked up. "Wow, I knew you'd be different! All Mom cares about is 'rules and regulations'."

"Well, she's a cop, after all..." Sly reminded firmly. "That's what they do."

Russell gave his father a sheepish look. "Yeeaah, but you know what I mean. I can't pull one prank without her or somebody else going insane. Thank God for Xavier."

"You and this Xavier kid seem close." noted Sly.

"Mhm, of course we are!" Russell exclaimed proudly. "He's my best friend! We're partners in crime!"

Sly chuckled. "I can tell,"

There was an award silence for a few brief moments before Russell gave his father a look of curiosity. "Dad, I've been wondering...I think get tendencies to act out from you. Is that even possible?"

Sly shook his head. "I wouldn't think so. From what you've been telling me, you've got Cooper blood in you, alright. I saw how fast you climbed those trees at the park earlier. You're quite gifted, Son."

"So I do get it from you?"

"In a way," nodded Sly. "Ya know, I think it's about time I told you about our family. It's time I told you about the Thievious Raccoonus."

Russell tilted his head in confusion. "The Thingus Raccamagoocus?"

Chuckling, Sly corrected him. "The _Thievious Raccoonus_. It's an ancient book passed down from each Cooper throughout history. It depicts what each master thief in our family has learned. It has recorded knowledge that helps future Coopers become thieves. Our ancestors recorded in it, my grandfather recorded in it, my father recorded in it, even I did. And now, I think it's time you learned all about it."

Russell leaned across the table. "Should we talk about this somewhere less public, then?"

"Hm, you're right," Sly agreed. He got up and left a tip on the table before instructing Russell to follow him. After walking down a couple blocks, the duo found themselves under a bridge, making sure no one was in sight before proceeding with their conversation. "Alright, you ready?"

Russell nodded. "Yeah! C'mon, I wanna know!"

Sly grinned. "Alright, lemme start from the beginning..."

Russell listened to everything his father had to tell him. Sly told him all about how the Thievious Raccoonus was created by his Egyptian ancestor, Slytunkhamen Cooper. He then got into detail on how his son, Slytunkhamen Cooper II created the Cooper Vault. When Russell asked about that, Sly assured him he'll get to that on another time. Russell then learned about his other ancestors; Sir Galleth Cooper finding the Cooper Order, Otto Van Cooper flying planes, Rioichi Cooper robbing Japan, and how Tennessee "Kid" Cooper pulled off some of the greatest heists in the Old West. Not surprising, Russell liked Tennessee the best.

Sly couldn't help but feel fatherly pride while discussing the Cooper Legacy with his son. Russell paid attention to every detail and was quick to ask questions. It amazed Sly how interested Russell was in his family's lifestyle, and how he grew more interested in his 'job'. Sadly, though, not everything was simple and sweet. Sly questioned if it was appropriate to tell his son about Clockwerk and what happened to his father. When he finally told Russell what happened, his saw the horror and sadness in the young foxcoon's eyes. But that quickly changed when Sly told him about his childhood with Bentley and Murray, and how they've been like brothers since the orphanage. He then told Russell about his own adventures with his gang, how they pulled heist-after-heist across the globe, with Carmelita Fox fight on their tails. It was nice to talk to his son about the good times he shared with the fiery vixen. It felt like the two were in love again, even if that was far from the truth in reality. Sly shared with his son all sorts of amazing adventures he and the gang had been on over the years, including some bits of the past decade. Those, of course, were appropriate to talk about. By the time Sly was finish explaining everything, Russell stared up at him in awe.

"Wow..." Russell said in amazement. "You have such an amazing life, Dad. You really did all that?"

"Sure did," confirmed Sly. "Best years of my life, for sure. But now...I think I found an even better adventure."

Russell stared at him. "Yeah? What kind of adventure?"

Sly smiled. "The adventure of fatherhood." He paused before continuing. "Russell, I'm sorry for being gone for the past decade. Everything was a total mess, but now that I know about you, I want to be there. I want to be your dad, Russell. Heck, I wanna make things right with your mother. I want us to be a family."

"I want that too!" Russell exclaimed, soon feeling his ears drop. "But I doubt Mom would want that."

Sighing, Sly rubbed his neck. "Yeah, I know what you mean. She can be a handful, but I'm going to do whatever it takes. I promise, Kiddo, I'm going to be there for you both. No matter what."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

Russell smiled and stretched up, hugging his father. Sly smiled before hugging him back. He still couldn't believe that he was a father. Sly always wanted a family, and now he had one. It was dysfunctional, but still, it was an amazing feeling. Russell was a great kid, and Sly loved him. Carmelita still held that special place in his heart, and Sly wanted her to know that. It wasn't going to be easy, but Sly wouldn't give up. He had to find a way to make this all up to Carmelita somehow.

Sly's pants pocket vibrated shortly after breaking the hug, making the raccoon answer the cell phone. "Yeah?"

 _"Sly,"_ spoke Bentley. _"You should head back over here pretty soon."_

Sly furrowed his brow. "Sure, but is everything alright?"

 _"Everything's fine,"_ Bentley assured. _"We just had a meeting with Juliette and her contact. We think we finally have a plan to get some answers out of Jasmine and Katrina, and to get David and Kevin out of the picture."_

"And how to find 'T'?"

 _"We believe so,"_ Sly could piratically see Bentley nodded with a sporting grin. _"Head back to the hotel as soon as you can, Sly."_

Sly felt his heart drop. "Guess I outta get the kid back home, huh?"

 _"It may be for the best,"_ Bentley said sympathetically. _"Kid doesn't need to see all this. And hey, maybe seeing Carmelita again won't be so bad. You guys could try and talk it out?"_

"Maybe," Sly only hopped it was that simple. "I guess you're right, Bent. Better now or never, right? I'll let ya know when I'm heading back."

_"Alright, Sly. Be careful."_

"I will, Bent. Bye."

Russell stared at his father with a disappointed look. "You gotta take me home?"

Sly sighed. "I'm afraid so, Kid. Can't have you getting involved in this; dangerous stuff is going on."

"I see..." Russell looked down, sad that he has to go back home. His sadness eventually evaporated away as an idea popped into his head. Russell looked up at his father with determination. "Then I'll become a thief, just like you! I'm already a trouble-maker, and like you said, I got Cooper blood! Dad, train me to be a thief!"

If there were a clear picture of pride in the dictionary, it would be Sly's face. A chuckle escaped the male raccoon as he ruffled the kid's head. "I'd love to, Russell. Some other day, for sure. But for now, I gotta get ya home and return to the hotel."

"Aw, fine..." pouted Russell as he followed him up the stairs and back onto the city's sidewalk. "But I'm holding you to it!"

Sly grinned. Just as he was about to reply, he accidentally bumped into a figure in front of him. His eyes popped open in shock to see who the person was. Out of all his luck, did he not imagine Chief Barkley. The badger cleared his throat as he dusted himself off. "Sorry, didn't see where I was going."

"N-No problem, Officer!" Sly replied, trying his hardest not to sound nervous.

Chief Barkley eyed the raccoon suspiciously, studying his body language. He appeared to be nervous, which told him that something was wrong. He then looked down to his right, seeing a child standing next to the raccoon. Like the adult, this child raccoon looked fishy. He was clearly avoiding all eye contact by looking at the ground and kicking his feet on the pavement. There was something else about the kid; his fur color looked strikingly familiar.

Auburn.

"Sir," the badger looked back at the adult raccoon. "Is everything alright? You and the kid look spooked."

"Everything's fine, Officer." assured adult.

Chief Barkley raised an eyebrow. "Ya sure? I'm a cop, so if there's something troubling ya, you're free to tell me."

"Nothing's wrong, Officer, I assure you." Sly replied, slowly starting to feel more calm. "Just tired, is all. Had a long day spending time with my boy, and we're itching to get home."

Chief Barkley stared at him without a response. He eventually looked back down at the kid next to him. "Had a long day, huh?"

"Y-Yeah, Officer!" Russell replied with enthusiasm, trying his best to not be recognized. "Dad and I had the best day ever!"

That's when Barkley's hunch was confirmed. That voice seemed all too familiar.

Russell. And if Barkley didn't know any better, than this adult raccoon accompanying the runaway kid was none other than Sly Cooper. Chief Barkley nodded off the adult raccoon and stood there, watching as they went off their way. Unknowingly to them, the badger dug into his pocket and retrieved his cell phone. He scrolled through his contacts until he found who he was looking for.

Chief Barkley waited for the phone to pick up on the other end, where a solemn voice was heard.

_"Yes?"_

"Carmelita," Barkley spoke, still watching as Sly and Russell from his spot. "You may want to get dressed and come back out. I found him; I found Russell."

There was a short silence before a cracked cry came from the other end. _"You did?! Oh, God, thank you, Sir! Thank you so much!"_

"Yes," confirmed Barkley. "And you won't believe who he's with..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This wraps up chapter 3! Hope you guys liked this one, and I'm sorry for the long wait! This semester is a little more hectic than I thought, so updates may not come as fast as I originally hoped. :( But I intend to update as regularly as I can, so fear not!
> 
> Get ready for some drama, because the next chapter is when things really start to get real!
> 
> Until next time,
> 
> ~Nixter97~


	4. Reunions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Russell returns home. Sly and his gang come up with a plan, which leads to an unexpected event.

Sly tightened his grip on Russell's hand as he began to speed up, not daring to look behind him. He had a suspicion that Barkley had recognized him based on his tone of voice and that he caught a glimpse of him talking on the phone while looking at their direction. Russell was lucky he was able to keep up with his father's speed otherwise he'd be in cuffs at this point. The younger raccoon knew too well who Barkley was calling, and he had a suspicion that his father did too. Russell continued to be lead through the streets of Paris, eventually coming to a stop in an alleyway. Sly reached for his phone and frantically scrolled through his contacts until he brought the device to his ear, waiting almost impatiently as his call rang.

_"Hello? Sly?"_

"Bentley," Sly quickly answered, proceeding to move through the alley with Russell. "I have problem; Chief Barkley ran into us."

 _"Crap,"_ Bentley hissed. _"Did he recognize you?"_

 _"_ I think so," Sly began to observe his surroundings, hoping to not catch sight of the badger. "He let us go, but I caught him on the phone moments after we left. I think he's calling in backup, and we both know what that means."

 _"I think you mean 'who', but I get your point,"_ Bentley went silent for a few short moment before clearing his throat. _"Sly, you still there?"_

"Yeah,"

_"Okay, good. I'm sending Murray and Dimitri to head out in the van. Meet them at the Eiffel Tower in ten minutes."_

"Will do," nodded Sly. "On our way now."

Russell watched as his father hung up his phone and tucked it back in his pocket, still maintaining a decent pace. The duo constantly made stops and sharp turns as they snaked through the alleyways, careful not to be noticed. The Eiffel Tower was quite a ways away from their position, but Sly wasn't about to give up. The older raccoon spotted some taxis stopping at a red light and got an idea. Careful of his surroundings, he tugged Russell along as they approached an empty vehicle. Getting inside, Sly paid the driver in advance and coaxed him into going a little over the speed limit in hopes of getting to their destination quicker. Russell frowned at the exchange before the taxi started moving, going a little faster as promised.

"Dad?" questioned Russell, looking up at the adult. "Is everything okay?"

"It will be," Sly assured. "We'll meet Murray and Dimitri and get you home before anything happens."

Russell didn't looked too convinced. "But what about Mom? If Barkley was calling for-"

The sound of sirens shut the foxcoon up. Looking over their shoulders, Sly and Russell spotted a police car tailing them. The taxi driver caught wind of this and was about to pull over, until Sly intervened. "Keep going faster, and I'll pay you double!"

With an irritated grunt, the driver did as he was told and continued, swerving through the streets and accelerating at a higher speed than before. It wasn't long before more police vehicles caught wind of their location, and soon they were surrounded. Sly felt anxious; sweat poured down his face as he frantically searched for a way to escape. An idea soon hit him; it was risky, but Sly was willing to take the chance. Without a word, he fished out his wallet and tossed money at the front passenger seat. Before Russell could ask what his father intended on doing, he was grabbed and held in the older man's arms before feeling himself flying out of the car.

"Au revoir!" Sly called out to the screaming taxi driver, hoping on top of one of the speeding police cars.

Russell clutched onto his father's shirt, face buried into his chest as he screamed. Sly soon jumped high into the air before twirling, landing safely on top of a street light. The master thief took in the view from his location before spotting the Eiffel Tower.

"Hold on tight, Russell! Things might get harrier!"

"Don't have to tell me that!" exclaimed his son.

Despite the scare, Russell fought the courage to take a peak at what they were doing. He felt the breeze running along his face as his father sprinted and jumped across rooftop after rooftop, avoiding the police cars below. Pedestrians who caught sight of them, hollered and pointed, alerting the officers who were on the streets. Russell soon grinned, finding enjoyment from the commotion. Was this what his father felt all the time while being mischievous with his gang? Russell soon noticed how close they were to the Eiffel Tower, the Cooper van just now coming into view.

"Almost there!" Sly noted.

With one last leap, Sly landed on the ground and made a run for it, sprinting across the open street and towards the van where Murray and Dimitri was waiting. The hippo honked the horn, and their reptile companion opened one of the side doors, urging the duo to get in. Just as Sly and Russell was about to make it, a blue orb of electricity collided with the ground between them. Sly held onto Russell tighter as he did a back flip, turning to his left to see who fired. As expected, the thieving raccoon came face-to-face with a livid Carmelita.

"Sly Cooper..." she sneered. "Drop the kid."

Sly gulped, "H-Hey Carm..."

"I said..." she fired her shock pistol again, another warning shot by Sly's feet. He did another flip to avoid the range of the shock, his heart pounding. "DROP THE KID!"

"Dad..." Russell whimpered.

Sly sighed and looked down at his son. "I'm sorry, Russell, but we knew this would happen sooner or later. Go to your mother."

"But-"

"Now," Sly ordered firmly. "Don't worry, it'll be okay."

Russell nodded after being let down. Looking back and forth between the two of them, Russell timidly began moving towards Carmelita's location. The vixen gave her son a look that told him he was in more trouble than he ever had been. Feeling like he was going to hear about this later, Russell dropped his ears and fiddled with his fingers before heading to his mother's car behind her. Knowing her son was safely buckled in, Carmelita drew her attention back onto Sly and tightened her grip on her shock pistol.

"You son-of-a-bitch," she sneered, "Disappear for a decade, and when I find out you're back, you kidnap my son?!"

" _Our_ son," Sly bravely corrected. "Also, I didn't kidnap him! Dimitri did!"

"No, I didn't!" Dimitri bellowed from the van, frustrated for still being labeled as a literal kidnapper.

Ignoring the iguana, Carmelita slowly made her way across the street and kept her aim onto Sly. "Do you have any idea what I've been through these past ten years? The sacrifices I had to make? The struggles of motherhood? I was lucky enough to still get support from my family, especially after telling them who the father was!"

"You threw me out!" Sly retorted. "Believe me, Carm, if there was any way of me staying-"

"Oh, you're staying, all right!" Carmelita growled. "I'm sending you and your lowlife gang behind bars for good!"

As Sly was about to reply, he heard something rolling towards him from behind. Looking down, a small grayish-blue ball rolled across the ground from between his feet, a red light flickering at an increased pace as it peeped louder and louder at a similar speed with the light. Realizing what it was, Sly quickly turned and ran before it exploded, smoke emerging and blinding the vixen, throwing off her aim as she began to rapidly fire after the raccoon. Russell watched from his mother's car in amazement, grinning to see his father and his gang taking off. By the time the smoke cleared, the van was gone, and Carmelita was furious.

Not too long after, more police cars arrived at the scene. Exiting one of them was none-other than Chief Barkley. The badger looked around, expecting to see Sly cuffed and escorted to jail. What he instead founded was his angry inspector shouting out curse words and an empty street in Spanish. She shook her hand violently in the air as she focused her gaze towards where the Cooper van disappeared to. From his seat in the car, Russell let out a soft chuckle. He understood his mother's foreign tongue completely, having being taught Spanish by her and his grandparents. Still, Russell kept his chuckles to a minimum, for he still got frightened by his mother's Hispanic outbursts when provoked.

"Inspector,"

Making his presents known, Carmelita slowly stopped her frantic cursing and turned around to face her boss. Her chest rose and fell as she took in deep, steady breathes to compose herself. The vixen placed her shock pistol onto her hip and fixed her hair, attempting to not look completely insane.

"Chief Barkley," she addressed casually. "Cooper got away."

Nodding, Chief Barkley adjusted his belt. "So it would seem. You got your kid back, it looks like." he brought his attention back towards Russell, Carmelita's gaze following his. Seeing that he was being stared at, Russell gulped and lowered his head, his ears dropping once more.

"I'm at least happy for that," Carmelita replied. "However, he's in more trouble than he's ever been."

"That's...understandable," Chief Barkley agreed awkwardly before lighting a cigar. "If he's been to Cooper's hideout, then maybe he can help."

Carmelita kept her gaze onto her son. "I might knock a few months off his grounding if he does that."

"Carmelita..." Chief Barkley stopped her from walking towards the car. "Do go easy on him. I understand what he did was wrong, but he's still just a kid."

The vixen glared at him. "You're not agreeing with him, are you? He got into a car with an escaped criminal, disappeared for an entire night, and was found with Sly Cooper!"

"I'm just as mad as you are," Chief Barkley assured. "But he is still just a kid, Miss Fox." he paused for a moment before clearing his throat. "I think...I think it'd be best for you to sit out for a while."

Hearing this, Carmelita's eyes widen. "What?! Chief, you cannot honestly expect me to take off! Not with Cooper back!"

"This ain't about your relationship with Cooper!" Chief Barkley exclaimed. "This is about your son. I think you need to spend some time with him, make sure everything is alright. We'll investigate the Cooper Gang's whereabouts, but until we find something, you should be with your boy."

Carmelita wanted to fight, but she knew it'd be a losing battle. Surprisingly enough, the old badger was just about as stubborn as her, maybe even more. With a sigh, Carmelita nodded and turned to make her way towards her car. Russell gulped as he watched his mother sliding into the driver's seat, starting the car before driving off without a word.

Finally, with enough courage built up, Russell spoke softly, "M-Mom...I-"

"Not now, Russell." Carmelita answered, surprisingly calm.

Russell frowned. "But Mom, I'm so-"

"Russell, _please_ ," she begged, a hint of a choke coming from her voice. "Let's just get home."

Russell kept his mouth shut at his mother's request, feeling awful for what he had put her through. While he was angry at first, Russell now understood what he had done. The soft choke from his mother as she determinedly fought back tears was enough evidence that he was broken her heart. This wasn't was Russell wanted nor intended, and knowing that he had caused his mother this much pain destroyed him. The one person who he had put his trust in since the day he was born was now feeling betrayed by him. Russell bit his lip, looking down at his hands without saying another word on the way home.

He really does act before thinking.

* * *

When they arrived home, neither of them said a word. Russell wordlessly made his way towards his bedroom, his ears twitching at the sound of his mother crashing onto the couch, faint sobs echoing from their apartment. Once in his room, Russell stripped out of his clothes and tossed them on the floor, not bothering to put them in his dirty cloths basket in his closet. He put on a pair of pajamas and crawled into bed, hugging his pillows as he slept his side.

 _I really did it this time_ , he thought.

Russell had never seen his mother like this, and it was his own fault. Russell began to silently pray for forgiveness; he shouldn't have gone through his mother's files. If he hadn't done everything that he did back at INTERPOL's headquarters, then none of this would have happened. Russell's thoughts soon drifted onto Sly Cooper, his father. Was it all worth it, meeting the man who would've raised him if it wasn't for his "job"? This was the same man who lied to his mother and abandoned them after being contacted by a mysterious character like Juliette. A part of Russell believed that it was worth it. He had met his father, and he even got to know him. Russell was overjoyed to know that it couldn't just be himself and his mother anymore. However, he still felt terrible.

How could they possibly be a family? Based on what his father had told him and how his mother had acted earlier, it was clear that their relationship was far from broken. It was beyond repair. How could they get back together after ten whole years of separation and heartache? His father still loved her, but did his mother feel the same? Less-likely, Russell thought. As the fantasy of a "perfect family" continued to play through his mind, the door to his bedroom was knocked on before cracking open. Russell rolled over and spotted his mother standing at the doorway, her eyes slightly red. Carmelita wiped her eyes with a tissue that she clutched into her hands and gave her son a concerned expression.

"Hi sweetie..." she softly spoke. "I didn't wake you, did I?"

Russell shook his head, sitting up before wrapping his arms around his legs. "No, I was awake. Tried to sleep, though. Didn't work."

Understanding, Carmelita nodded and made her way towards her son's bed, taking a set next to him. "I...I think we need to talk. Agreed?" When Russell didn't answer her, Carmelita cleared her throat. "Russell...what you did was not right. I was completely worried sick; I was heartbroken."

Russell flinched at those words. He had already known that, but actually hearing it coming out of his mother's mouth made it worse. He lowered his gaze and turned his head towards the carpeted floor. "I know..." he softly replied. "I'm sorry. I know that doesn't excuse what I did, and I'll accept whatever punishment I have coming for me. I feel awful, really."

"I know you do," Carmelita nodded. "I'm sorry too, Russell. I shouldn't have lied about the truth. I just...never expected to see him again, and well..."

Russell perked up and looked at his mother. "Dad told me he faked memory loss. He told me everything that had happened. I'm...I'm glad I know, but at the same time, I wish I didn't." Russell then clutched his blankets, feeling tears approaching. "I just wanted us to be a family..."

"Aw, baby..." Carmelita scooted closer and pulled her son into a hug, soothing him as she rubbed his back. "Believe me, I wanted us to be a family too. That's not possible, though. We're two completely different people, and he broke my heart. We've always had trouble to be together, but now it is impossible."

"M-Mom..." Russell hiccuped, looking up at her with curiosity. "Dad's friends...they say I look a lot like him. Is that why you're hard on me sometimes? Do I remind you of Dad too much?"

Carmelita stared at her son in horror. "Russell! No, never!" she hugged her son tighter, fighting back tears. "I would never, _ever_ hate you, if that's what you're implying! You are _you_ , _not_ your father! I am _so sorry_ if I had ever made you feel unloved! Oh god, this is all _my_ fault!"

"No, it's not your fault!" Russell exclaimed. "It's my own fault! You were right, Mom: I _do_ act before thinking about my actions! I promise, that changes now! I'll never scare you like that again! I swear!"

Carmelita gave her son a sad smile before kissing his forehead and hugging him once more. "My baby boy..." she sighed. "I'm so happy you're home and safe." Russell hugged his mother back, relieved that this conversation is going by smoother than expected. After a while, Carmelita pulled away and gave him a firm look. "You're still being grounded; don't forget that. One month."

Russell looked surprised. "One _month_?"

"Don't give me that look," Carmelita lectured. "You're lucky; I was originally going to make it three. You've put me through quite the scare. No television or video games, and no friends over or you going anywhere other than home and school. Is that understood?"

Russell let out a sigh. "Honestly, I kinda expected that. I'll listen and behave, Mom. I promise."

"Good," Carmelita ruffled his head. "Now, how about I make us some hot chocolate before bed? I'll read to you."

"Okay," Russell nodded, getting up to follow his mother out of his bedroom. "Mom? What's going to happen to Dad?"

Carmelita felt herself tense up at the mentioning of Sly, realizing that now the situation had gotten more complicated. "Well, he may be your father, but he is still a criminal. So, we're going to catch him and lock him up."

"You're actually going to?"

"Of course," Carmelita began heating up water as her son poured the coco mix into their mugs. "It's what we do."

* * *

"What the _hell_ happened?!"

Sly flinched as the French raccoon glared at him from the couch she sat on in the hotel lobby. Juliette studied the master thief as he made his way to sit down on a chair across from her. "It wasn't my fault," he said bitterly. "Barkley caught us, and if it wasn't for that, we'd-"

"Zip!" Juliette made a zipping movement across her mouth with her right hand, her eyes narrowing. "While I can appreciate the bonding with your son, Monsieur Cooper, we cannot afford more attention than you've already attracted! Your high-speed chasse was all over the news! For all we know, T's laquais could've been watching!"

"And putting our plan in jeopardy." came a new voice.

Sly turned to see a male tuxedo cat lounging at the front desk. With a confused expression, Sly turned to Bentley and pointed at their mysterious guest. "Who is this?"

"Juliette's contact," Bentley answered. "He was the one who showed up earlier to help devise a plan to capture one of T's hired help."

The handsome stranger hummed in approval and leaped over the front desk before approaching Sly, extending his hand while offering a coy smile. "Daniel Wright. Pleased to meet you, Mister Cooper."

Sly cautiously took Daniel's hand and shook it, smiling back before looking over at Bentley for confirmation. "So there's a plan?"

"Yes!" Penelope clapped her hands together as she entered the room, lucky to have overheard the short exchange. "Daniel and Juliette are going to work together and get some good ole' hacking done, changing the location of the next shipment's drop-off. Whoever arrives to this new location will be in for a surprise..."

"Dimitri and I are going to hide inside the crate!" Murray exclaimed, getting pumped just thinking about it.

"From there, you'll get the drop on them with some sleep bombs that I'm working on," Bentley continued. "They'll be too distracted by Murray and Dimitri's surprise to even notice that you've got them!"

"Bentley and I will work together to make sure no one gets out until the job is done," Penelope finished. "We even started working on _where_ we'll take our hostage once we go 'em."

"Not here?" Sly asked.

Bentley shook his head. "Too risky. It's better to interrogate this person somewhere else. We don't want our hideout to be potentially discovered in case there are any...accidents."

Sly cocked an eyebrow. "Accidents?"

"Not so sure you've noticed Sly," Bentley replied dryly. "But these operations can sometimes not go as planned. If by some misfortune our hideout is discovered because they escaped or we're tracked down, we're in trouble. It's better to get answers from these guys somewhere else, just in case. We shouldn't take any chances with this 'T' person."

Sly nodded. "I guess that makes sense. So, if we're off dealing with all of that, then what about the original location of the shipment?"

"Leave that to us," Juliette answered. "While you and your gang take care of 'T's bâtards, Daniel and I shall retrieve the package."

"Okay, then what?"

"Then we can finally figure out what they've been up to these past ten years," Bentley confirmed. "Or so I hope."

* * *

Carmelita pulled up to the school's entrance the next morning, looking over her shoulder as her son began to grab onto his backpack. She gave him a firm look, not liking sending him off to school after the fiasco that went down over the weekend, but Russell begged to go back as soon as possible.

"What's the deal we made?"

"I'll wait for you right here to pick me up," Russell assured. "If I'm going to be a prisoner, I at least wanna be with my friends during school days."

"Watch it," Carmelita retorted. "I understand where you're coming from, but keep in mind it's fair. You'll understand when you're a parent."

Russell rolled his eyes, smirking while thinking of the good comebacks he would've used if he wasn't already in enough trouble as it is. Instead, he nodded thoughtfully and bid his mother goodbye before exiting the vehicle, having her watch as he entered the building alongside the other kids. Once inside, Russell tightened his grip on his backpack straps as some of the other kids turned to look at him. He could already tell what they were gossiping about, and it was weird. Normally, the rumors about Russell was about the pranks he pulled. Now, it was about him being apart of a high-speed chase alongside his father in broad daylight. As unsettling as it seem, the idea of him being on the news like that sort of sparked something with the foxcoon. Maybe it was that same ecstatic rush he felt while fleeing with his father?

Just as Russell began to open his locker, he felt a larger body come into close contact with him. The figure leaned against the locker next to his, vibrating the steel surface. His grey tail swished as he displayed a shit-eating grin.

"So..." Xavier folded his arms across his chest, clearly impressed with the foxcoon. "Ten-years-old, and already you make the news, huh? I'm jealous."

Russell chuckled at his best friend's comment. "Believe me, the spotlight's not as glamorous as it may seem."

Xavier understood what Russell was talking about. He saw the way everyone was staring at him; the way they judged him for getting involved with a criminal like Sly Cooper. His own father was part of the chase, and he and his brother watched the action on the news. Xavier's older brother told him to stay away from Russell, but he wouldn't listen. Even when his own father came home that night and told him, Xavier gave him the same treatment. He wasn't about to abandon his best friend without hearing the whole story. Besides, if people wanted to shun the foxcoon for something like this, then it was their problem. They didn't know Russell like Xavier did.

"Hey, if anyone talks smack about my best friend, I'll gladly send them to the nurse."

"Xavier, don't," Russell replied, this time not joking. "I'm in enough trouble as it is. I made my mom cry last night. She was so scared, and angry. I've never seen her that way before."

Hearing this, Xavier's expression softened. "Shit..." he rubbed his arm. "Sorry Russ, I didn't mean to-"

"It's fine," Russell assured, finishing putting his stuff away. He then gave the wolf a reassuring smile before returning his attention back to his locker, looking for the things he needs for his first class. "Really, don't worry about it. Everything's fine between her and I now, but there's one problem."

"Lemme guess..." Xavier could tell from the tone of his voice exactly what it was. "Grounded?"

"A month," Russell confirmed. "And no friends over, either."

Xavier gawked at him. "A _month_?! Dude, c'mon, no way!"

"I said the same thing," shrugged Russell, understanding his friend's frustration. "I'm lucky, though. Mom said she was originally going to make it _three_ months."

"Shut up right now," Xavier dramatically groaned. "You're kill me, Smalls!"

Russell rolled his eyes. "I hate it when you quote that movie."

"And that's why I love quoting it!" laughed Xavier. "Along with any other American movie. They're fun to watch!"

"So you say about any other foreign thing you come across," smirked Russell. "I'm actually jealous you have family over there for you to visit. When I grow up, I want to explore the world as much as I can." Russell stopped and thought for a moment, getting nervous. "Xavier, there's something I need to tell you. You gotta keep this a secret, alright?"

Xavier made a zipping movement across his lips, intrigued on what's making his friend so secretive. "What is it?"

"It's about the criminal I was with - Sly Cooper. Xavier, you ain't gonna believe this, but...he's my dad."

Xavier stared at Russell. "What?"

"He's my-"

"No, I heard you!" interrupted Xavier, processing what he had just heard. "Just- what?! Your father is a most wanted thief?! You never knew this?"

Russell shrugged. "If I had, then I wouldn't be as surprised as you are." he closed his locker and began walking, Xavier following closely behind. "It makes sense, though, don't you think?"

"Um, _yeah_!" Xavier replied as if it were common knowledge. "You're pretty mischievous for your age and are able to do things none of the other kids can. How did you find out?"

"Well..." Russell blushed in embarrassment. "I may have...broken out one of his gang members."

"That's why you went missing? You tagged along with someone from the Cooper Gang?"

Russell stopped just outside his classroom, giving Xavier a sheepish grin. "Curiosity got the better of me. The guy I ran off with - Dimitri? He knew who my father was, and I wanted to meet him. It started off great, but well...you know."

"I do," nodded Xavier. "So...what does this mean, then? If your dad is Sly Cooper, does this mean you're going to join his gang?"

Russell shook his head. "No, at least not now, I think. I'm still a kid, and my mom is set on capturing him. She wants the whole Cooper Gang locked up for good."

"But if Cooper is your father, why does your mom hate him so much?"

"I think it's pretty obvious," sighed Russell. "He's a thief, and she's a cop, for one. Also, he was apparently lying to her, so she kicked him out. He's been traveling the globe since then, looking for some bad people."

"You ever think they'll make up?"

"I honestly do not know," Russell frowned. "Xavier...please promise you won't say anything about this to anyone, okay? It's bad enough people are making up rumors about me being on the news with Sly Cooper. I would probably be worse if they all knew the truth."

Xavier gave his best friend a serious look and nodded, placing his right hand on his shoulder. "I promise, your secret is safe with me."

"Thank you," Russell sighed in relief. "I honestly do not know what I would do if word got out I'm related to someone as most wanted as Sly Cooper."

"Run away and embrace the criminal life?" Xavier asked rhetorically, a grin displayed on his face.

Grinning, Russell shook his head. "Mom would be madder than she already is. I don't know what the future holds, now that I know more about my family."

"Would you actually go through with it, though?" Xavier asked, genuinely curious. "Become a criminal like your dad?"

"I don't know..." Russell pondered. "After what happened over the weekend, maybe not? Still, it seems kinda exciting. As scary as that all was, the thrill of the chase was something else. A part of me kind of liked it."

"So you think you would?"

"Who knows," Russell turned his heels to enter the classroom. "I'm a Cooper, after all."

* * *

The time had come to finally capture one of 'T's goons. With the plan finally in place, Sly sat in the upper levels of the warehouse, perched on a ceiling beam. The crate that Murray and Dimitri hid in was in position at the center. The thieving raccoon's tail swirled as he began to grow twitchy and impatient. He wanted to finally get this job done and hopefully put a stop to whatever has been causing him trouble for the past decade. Jasmine and Katrina have been slippy, and have surprisingly managed to get away from them in every way. With the knowledge that they now have two criminals with a thirst for blood on their side, it was only a matter of time before things got worse. All they needed to do was trap at least one of them, then it would be easier to stop 'T's mysterious plan.

At least, Sly hopped.

The raccoon's thoughts were interrupted when the sound of a vehicle coming to a complete stop outside the warehouse. Sly turned towards the door, anticipating what came next.

"This is weird..." came a gruff voice. "Why would the shipment be taken here?"

"Quit your whining!" snapped another voice. "As long as it's here, why does it matter?"

The door soon opened up, followed by a familiar female feline entering the building. Katrina twirled her umbrella as both she and Jasmine approached the center of the room. Indo-Pacific geckos and alligator flashlight guards joined them, surrounding the room as if they knew what was going to happen.

...Which made Sly uneasy. He observed as guns were aimed at the crate, concern for his teammates increasing. Just as Jasmine was about to touch the crate, it erupted. There Murray and Dimitri stood, ready to fight off their foes. Jasmine landed on her feet after performing a back flip. Sly acted just as Murray and Dimitri made themselves known and leaped off the beam. Just as he was about to throw the bombs Bentley had made, Katrina turned around and aimed her umbrella at him, ejecting the blade from the tip and made contact with Sly's shoulder. With a grunt, Sly collapsed onto the ground. He was soon met with a kick from the gut from the Russian feline, sent flying to a pair of alligator guards.

Dimitri and Murray both gawked at the sight. "Sly!" the hippo exclaimed in worry.

"What a surprise," began Jasmine, a hint of sarcasm in her voice. "I'm honestly disappointed that this was the best you could do. Why couldn't you two stay in there and make this easier?"

Blinking in confusion, Dimitri looked at leopard. "You...You _knew_ we'd be here?"

"Of course we did," Katrina spoke up, replacing the blade in her umbrella. "We have eyes everywhere. We know exactly what you and your ridiculous gang are always planning."

"All you need is the right tools...or people, I should say." Jasmine finished. "Don't you think it's funny how for the past ten years, not one of you were able to stop us?"

Sly's ears twitched at this news and lifted his head. "Juliette..."

"We weren't talking about her, Cooper." Jasmine grinned.

The door opened once more, showing Bentley and Penelope being lead inside by some more of T's goons, showing signs of surrender. Juliette soon followed, her hands handcuffed behind her. She looked like a mess, with a black eye visible alongside a cut on her lip. Holding her from behind was Daniel, gun in hand as he lead his capture towards the center of the room with everyone else.

"Bentley...what-" Sly was cut off.

"It was a setup," Bentley replied grimly. "Daniel was apparently tipping off Katrina and Jasmine what we were doing. He was going behind Juliette's back all these years, helping 'T'."

"Why?" Sly coughed, glaring at the male tuxedo cat. "Why do all this?"

"Why? Because I love my job, of course. And sticking it to the City of Thieves was the cherry on top!" replied Daniel venomously. "Working for 'T' proved to be much more beneficial, and when I was given the chance to "assist you", well...I couldn't say no to that opportunity, now could I? Whatever 'T' wants, I do. It's as simple as that."

"You're insane!" countered Sly. "You joined up with 'T' just because you enjoy chaos and take pleasure in hurting others? You're a disgrace!"

"I'm so sorry, Sly! I had no idea!" Juliette exclaimed, soon met with a hard tug at her restraints and a gun aimed at her face.

"Quiet!" Daniel snarled.

"Enough!" Jasmine bellowed, silencing everyone. "It matters not. What's most important is we now have _you_ , Cooper. You're just dying to know what we've been doing all these years, haven't you? Why we've been going after shipment after shipment, collecting the package and making off before you and your pest of a gang could stop us. While I do enjoy the tradition explanations, I think I'd rather show you."

Just as she finished, two large sliding doors to the side of the warehouse opened, revealing the real crate being delivered. Operating the vehicle was Kevin and David, both giving Sly and menacing look.

"Hi Cooper..." Kevin snarled. "Remember me?"

"Been a long time... _Constable_." David spat.

Sly glared at them, watching alongside his gang as the crate was opened, revealing a large machine in the shape of a triangle. There was a touchscreen on the side that was facing all of them and had a faint violet light shimmering through it. The tip opening up as what looked like a mini canon stood upright. Jasmine patted the machine and looked over at their captives.

"See this? This is the end of civilization as we know it. Across the globe, many more machines like this will be distributed and erupt, poisoning everyone within range."

Penelope gasped in horror. "You're going to kill millions of people with _that_?! That's beyond cruel; that's terrorism! It's inhumane!"

"Who said anything about killing?" Katrina nodded to Daniel, who in returned shoved Juliette to another pair of guards and approached the machine. He began typing on the touchscreen before a slot opened up, revealing small canisters of a dark green liquid. Jasmine then took the canister and poured the liquid into a syringe as Daniel began stripping off his jacket, revealing a white sleeveless top as he tossed the article of clothing to the side.

Everyone watched as Jasmine approached the tuxedo cat and nodded at him before turning to face the Cooper Gang. "Behold: the work of 'T'!"

The needle soon made contact with Daniel's shoulder, who instantly started to feel the effects of the foreign substance. Everyone watched in horror as he began to mutate, growing larger in size and began to show off a more primal side of him. Daniel was now towering over the Cooper Gang, his large clawed hands scrapping the ground below as his tail flicked from side-to-side. He looked as if he were about to pounce, like he was going to kill them all.

And that's exactly what he was going to do.

Jasmine grinned alongside Katrina, Kevin and David. The female leopard sighed in content, seeing that the formula worked perfectly. Daniel's ears twitched as he heard her open her mouth to speak, giving him the obvious command.

"Now..." she pointed straight at the Cooper Gang. "Kill them."

**Author's Note:**

> And this concludes chapter one to this revision! I have a more structured format for this reboot, and will try to have updates out on a reasonable schedule. I am not sure when the second chapter will be out, exactly. I start school again in about a week, so things may start getting slow for me.
> 
> Anyway, I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter, and I look forward to giving you guys more in the future!
> 
> Until next time,
> 
> ~Nixter97~


End file.
